Lucknow. Thanks to the brilliant all-round performance of Ajit Verma (2 wickets, 59 runs) and the excellent bowling of Abhinandan Singh (4/32), Lucknow Falcons defeated Noida Kings by 12 runs by Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method in UP T-20 League Season-4 Powered by Vimal Elaichi and NCS. The first match of the day played on Sunday at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium was formally started by Avnish Awasthi (Adviser, Chief Minister Uttar Pradesh) with the traditional bell ringing ceremony.
On this occasion, Avnish Awasthi said that UP T-20 League has given a strong platform to cricket in Uttar Pradesh and has also provided an important opportunity to the young players of the state to showcase their talent. The increasing popularity of the league is an indication that the enthusiasm of the spectators regarding cricket is continuously increasing in the state. Chairman of UP T-20 League Governing Council, Dr. Sanjay Kapoor said that the objective of the league is not limited to just competitive cricket, but to strengthen the entire ecosystem of cricket in Uttar Pradesh.
In the match, Lucknow Falcons captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar won the toss and invited Noida Kings to bat first. He himself started the bowling and put initial pressure on Noida Kings by bowling a maiden over. At the same time, Noida's middle order could not stand against fast bowler Abhinandan Singh.
However, Noida Kings opener Shoaib Siddiqui batted patiently and tried to handle the innings by scoring 48 runs in 39 balls. After this, Lucknow's bowlers put pressure on Noida's middle order by taking wickets at regular intervals and their innings faltered.
Abhinandan Singh from Lucknow Falcons bowled brilliantly and took 4 important wickets for 32 runs. With this performance, Abhinandan again reached the top in the list of bowlers taking the most wickets in the league. He took 13 wickets in five matches and got the Purple Cap again. Ajit Verma also supported him well by taking two wickets. At one time the score of Noida Kings was eight wickets for 127 runs.
This left-handed middle-order batsman from Noida Kings, Prashant Veer, adopted an aggressive approach from one end and played a quick half-century of unbeaten 59 runs with the help of 4 fours and 5 skyscraper sixes in just 30 balls. Thanks to his stormy innings, Noida Kings scored 156 runs for eight wickets in 20 overs.
Lucknow Falcons, who set out to chase the target of 157 runs, had a very bad start. Fast bowler Naman Tiwari gave the initial blow with the new ball and sent openers Mohammad Saif and Himanshu Singh to the pavilion. After this Priyam Garg was run out, due to which Lucknow's score became three wickets for 32 runs.
In such difficult times, Ajit Verma took charge and made an important partnership of 61 runs with Vipraj Nigam. After making an impact with the ball, Ajit also played a brilliant role with the bat and strengthened Lucknow's hopes of victory by playing an excellent inning of 59 runs with four fours and three sixes in 43 balls.
Lucknow team was close to the target and needed only 13 runs to win in the last 15 balls, when the game had to be stopped due to heavy rain. After this the match could not be resumed and on the basis of DLS method, Lucknow Falcons were declared the winners by 12 runs. With this victory, Lucknow registered its second win in UP T-20 League Season-4.