UP T-20 League: Kashi Rudras defeat Kanpur Superstars by 4 runs

Kanpur: Kashi Rudras defeated Kanpur Superstars by 4 runs in a thrilling encounter and pushed them to fifth place in the points table with 5 points. With this win, Kashi Rudras accumulated 6 points from 7 ties and jumped to the fourth place from fifth. They still have to play three matches and to keep their fourth place, they need just one win.On the other hand, Kanpur Superstars have to play just one match. They can get the fourth place in the semifinal if they win their last tie and Kashi lose its remaining 3 ties. The top three places are already occupied by Noida Super King (13 points), Meerut Mavericks and Lucknow Falcons.Batting first, Kashi Rudras lost opener Abhishek Yadav (0) in the very first over. However, captain Karan Sharma and Shivam Bansal repaired the damage adding 47 runs for the second wicket. Kartikeya broke their partnership claiming Karan Sharma for 33 runs scored in 22 balls. Jasmer Dhankar gave two blows to them claiming Banal (23) and Prince Yadav (2) and reduced Kashi team to 4 for 81. Kamil Khan and Ankur Malik thereafter combined in the middle and did a useful partnership of 45 runs for the fifth wicket which pushed them to a respectable score. Rishabh Rajput claimed Karim Khan for 43 when Saurabh caught him. He had hit 4 boundaries and a six in his innings. Rishabh scalped Shiva Singh and Mohd Sharim cheaply and emerged as a successful bowler with 3 wickets. Dhankar too picked 2 wickets.Chasing the target, Kanpur lost Saurabh Dubey (0), Sameer Rizvi (23) and AD Nath (3) early and were reduced to 3 for 40. Opener Rahul Rajput and Sandeep Tomar stitched the damage adding 55 runs for the fourth wicket. Rahul Rajput, who was pulling Kanpur towards victory, threw his wicket just after completing his half century. He was caught by substitute fielder at deep of Mohd Sharim. He had hit 4 boundaries and 2 sixes.Pressure was now on Prashant Chaudhary and Vishal Pandey and the pair successfully pushed their team's score to 140. They required 9 runs in the last over but Prashant in an attempt of a big hit mistimed his stroke and Mohd Sharim accepted his catch near the bowling end. Prashant scored 24 runs. Vineet Panwar too went for a big hit and was caught by Shiva Singh at long off. In the last three balls, Kanpur could collect 2 runs and lost the match. Mohd Sharim was adjudged as man of the match for claiming three wickets.Score board : Kashi Rudra-Karan Sharma c S Khanna b Kartikeya 33, Abhishek Yadav lbw b Prashant Chaudhary 1, Shivam Bansal v V Pandey b J Dhankar 23, Prince Yadav c AD Nath b J Dhankar 2, Kamil Khan c Saurabh b R Rajpur 43, Ankur Malik c Dhankar b V Panwar 17, Shiva Singh c Sameer b R Rajput 14, Mohd Sharim c Sameer b R Rajput 3, Bobby Yadav not out 1, Extras- 9, Total- 8 for 148.Fall of Wkts-1-3 ,2-50, 3-53, 4-81, 5-126, 6-130, 7-145, 8-148Bowling-Prashant Chaudhary 4-0-30-1,Vineet Panwar 4-0-41-0, Kartikeya Yadav 4-0-19-1, Rishabh Rajput 4-0-34-3, J Dhankar 4-0-23-2.Kanpur Superstar-Rahul Rajpal ,Saurabh Dubey b Prince Yadav 0, Sameer Rizvi b Shiva Singh 23, AD Nath c S Bansal b Shiva Singh 3, Sandeep Tomarb AB Rai 26, Vishal Pandey not out 13, Vineet Panwar c Shiva b Sharim 0, J Dhankar not out 2, Extras- 3 Total-7 for 144Fall of Wkts-- 1-1, 2-36, 3-40, 4-95, 5-111, 6-141, 7-142.Bowling-Prince Yadav 3-021-1, Atal Behari Rai 40=-0-31-1, Shiva Singh 4-0-11-2.Bobby Yadav 4-0-31-0, Deepanshu Yadav 1-0-16-0, Mohd Sharim 4-0-32-3.