The trend of close finishes continued at the Patanjali Uttarakhand Premier League 2024 as the USN Indians edged past the Haridwar Spring Elmas by one run (via DLS) in Match 7 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun on Wednesday, September 18.
In a rain-affected encounter that saw the overs reduced to 16 per side and then 11, the USN Indians posted 125/6 before the Spring Elmas were set a Duckworth-Lewis-Stern revised target of 130 in 11 overs. Their chase got off to a wobbly start though as Agrim Tiwari’s double-strike in the second over was followed by captain Ravikumar Samarth (5 off 5) falling at the start of the next over.
In what was a must-win encounter though, the mandate was clear and the incoming batters continued to attack. Shashwat Dangwal (20 off 10) and Saurabh Rawat (16 off 10) blazed away and took the score to 60/3 at the end of the fifth over. That’s when the match turned on its head – at least temporarily – with Prashant Chauhan (2/19 off two overs) removing both batters to throw a spanner into the Spring Elmas’ works.
Then came the Girish Raturi show (35* off 19) as he pounded the bowlers in the company of Kunal Veer Singh (23 off 8). It rained sixes and fours with Tiwari bearing the brunt of a brutal onslaught, traveling for 19 and 24 runs respectively off the 8th and 10th over of the defense.
Raturi thumped four sixes off the 10th to bring things down to ten runs needed off the last over but Devendra Bora held his nerve and executed his yorkers and slower deliveries to great effect. With three needed off the last ball, Prashant Bhati couldn’t put a low full toss away as Raturi being starved of the strike for a good part of the final over had a telling effect on the end result.
After rain delayed the start of this contest, the match was reduced to 16 overs-a-side. Yuvraj Chaudhary wasted no time in making the most of the field restrictions as he tore into the bowlers at will. The left-handed batter was in menacing form as 20 runs came off the second over sent down by Prashant Bhati. Aarav Mahajan (11 off 7) also began positively but departed shortly after.
The bowlers chipped away after another rain interval that further reduced the match to 11 overs per side. Stand-in skipper Akhil Rawat (13 off 6) chipped in with a pivotal cameo in the context of the game with every batter coming in showing a lot of intent to push the score forward. While most of them fell in the process, there was no stopping Chaudhary, who blitzed his way to a half-century and continued to toy around with the bowlers.
Chaudhary remained unbeaten on 74 as he struck six maximums. With an overall strike-rate reading 224.2, his knock catapulted the USN Indians to 125/6 before a DLS revised target of 130 was set for the Spring Elmas. It so nearly didn’t prove sufficient but as things panned out, it was just enough.
The USN Indians now sit on top of the points table with two wins from as many outings. The Spring Elmas, on the other hand, are done with their round-robin fixtures and now have to rely on other results to sneak into the Eliminator.
Scores: USN Indians 125/6 in 11 overs (Yuvraj Chaudhary 74* off 33, Akhil Rawat 13 off 6, Sparsh Joshi 2/26 off 2 overs) beat Hardiwar Spring Elmas 128/7 in 11 overs (Girish Raturi 35* off 19, Kunal Veer Singh 23 off 8, Prashant Chauhan 2/19 off 2 overs) by 1 run (DLS).
