Middle-order batter Rinku Singh led Meerut Mavericks from the front in the run chase against Kanpur Superstars in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh T20 League. Rinku joined forces with wicketkeeper-batter Uvaish Ahmed and shared an unbeaten 100-run partnership for the fifth wicket in the run chase of 153. Meerut Mavericks won the match by six wickets with 14 balls to spare.
Earlier, Meerut Mavericks' leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari registered a five-wicket haul conceding 26 runs from his quota of four overs. Kanpur Superstars' Shoaib Siddiqui departed for a single-digit score. Adarsh Singh played the attacking role whereas Shaurya Singh lost his wicket after getting off to a good start. Ansari wrecked the middle order. His first wicket was Ansari who scored 73 runs from 48 balls including six fours and three sixes. Sameer Rizvi’s side managed to post 152/8.
Mohsin Khan opened the bowling and dismissed Akshay Dubey for a two-ball duck. Swastik Chikara and Madhav Kaushik used the powerplay overs well. Rishabh Rajput got rid of Chikara and Kaushi who contributed with 13-ball 23 and 19-ball 25 respectively. After Rajput's double strike, Rituraj Sharma lost his wicket to Aquib Khan in the seventh over.
Meerut Mavericks were 54/4 Uvaish and Rinku were new to the crease. They cruised towards the target. Uvaish scored 48 runs from 34 balls including three fours and two sixes. Rinku took one more delivery to score 48 runs. The southpaw's knock was studded with four fours and a six.
Meerut Mavericks on top
With their second win of the tournament, Meerut Mavericks are at the top of the points table. In the season opener, Meerut Mavericks beat Kashi Rudras by seven wickets as they chased down the target of 101 in just nine overs with seven wickets in hand. Rinku finished the run chase with a six.
Rinku’s Duleep Trophy snub
Rinku was one of the notable absentee in the Duleep Trophy 2024 squads. The 26-year-old averages 54.70 in First-Class cricket with 3,173 runs from 69 innings including seven centuries and 20 half-centuries.
After the snub from domestic tournament, he will play in the T20I series against Bangladesh in October.
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