UPT20 2023: Noida Super Kings dominate Gorakhpur Lions in last-ball thriller

Kanpur, 8^th September 2023: Noida Super Kings displayed brilliant teamwork to chase down a challenging 183-run target and beat Gorakhpur Lions by seven wickets in a last-ball thriller at the ongoing UPT20 League in Kanpur. With the win, Noida extended their lead at the top of the points table with 12 points from 7 games, while on the other hand, Gorakhpur Lions remained at the bottom of the points tally, having accumulated just 2 points from 7 matches.

Talking about the match, after being asked to bat first, Gorakhpur Lions’ openers Dhruv Jurel and Abhishek Goswami gave a blistering start to their team, which crossed the 50-run mark inside the opening five overs of the match. The duo kept ticking the scoreboard by rotating THE strike and smashing boundaries at regular intervals. They built a partnership of 93 runs inside just 9 overs for the opening wicket before Samarth Singh, who was stationed at deep point, took a brilliant forward diving catch to send Goswami back to the pavilion off Saurabh Kumar’s delivery.   

After drawing the first blood in the game, Noida Super Kings shifted their focus on controlling the leakage of runs as Gorakhpur Lions had crossed the 100-run mark inside 11 overs courtesy of Jurel, who completed his half-century in just 26 balls. However, despite their desperate attempts, Noida couldn’t put brakes on Gorakhpur’s flow of runs as Jurel kept smashing the bowlers all over the park. 

In the meantime, Noida Super King’s pacer Naman Tiwari picked the second wicket of the match as he removed Siddharth Sarvan Yadav, who scored 19 runs in as many balls before giving an easy catch to Almas Shaukat at deep mid-wicket while trying to hit a maximum. Also, incoming batter Sameer Choudhary (1) didn’t last for long on the crease as he was trapped in front of the stumps by Bhuvneshwar Kumar.  

With the fall of two quick wickets, the momentum shifted in favour of Noida Super Kings and Naman Tiwari capitalized on it by removing set batter Jurel, who departed after scoring 85 off 48 balls, and Shivam Sharma (0) in the 18^th over.  

Meanwhile, Yashovardhan Singh smashed an unbeaten 19 off 9 balls, while Rishav Rai scored 11 off 7 to help Gorakhpur Lions reach 182/6 in the allotted 20 overs. 

Chasing the challenging 183-run target, openers Almas Shaukat and Samarth Singh gave a solid start to Noida Super Kings as the team crossed the 70-run mark in the opening eight overs of their innings with all wickets intact. However, Abdul Rehman put Gorakhpur Lions back in the game by removing Shaukat for 46 and half-centurion Samarth Singh in quick succession. 

After the departure of their openers, Noida Super Kings found themselves in trouble as their flow of runs descended and with only five overs remaining, Noida required 61 runs to win. Also, to add to their worry, captain Nitish Rana fell prey to Vijay Kumar in the 16^th over and walked back to pavilion after scoring just 14 runs. 

However, new batters on the crease - Aditya Sharma (46*) and Prashant Veer (25*) - smashed boundaries from the word go and turned the tide in Noida Super Kings’ favour. The duo stitched an unbeaten 62-run partnership as Noida crossed the finishing line on the very last ball of the match.

Brief Scores 

Noida Super Kings won by seven wickets 

Gorakhpur Lions: 182/6 in 20 overs (Dhruv Jorel – 85 runs in 49 balls, Abhishek Goswami – 44 runs in 30 balls, Siddharth Sarvan Yadav – 19 runs in 19 balls, Yashovardhan Singh – 19 runs in 9 balls, Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 1/34, Naman Tiwari 3/31, Saurabh Kumar – 1/37) 

Noida Super Kings: 185/3 in 20 overs (Almas Shaukat - 46 runs in 30 balls, Samarth Singh - 50 runs in 40 balls, Nitish Rana - 14 runs in 8 balls, Aditya Sharma – 46* in 27 balls, Prashant Veer 25* in 17 balls, Abdul Rehman – 2/40, Vijay Kumar – 1/24)