A mountainous target of 211 did not deter the USN Indians as they scaled the same by 8 wickets with four deliveries to spare over the Nainital SG Pipers to secure a berth in the knockouts of the Patanjali Uttarakhand Premier League at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun on Thursday, September 19.
The SG Pipers elected to bat first upon winning the toss and whipped up a massive 210/2, riding on a sparkling hundred from Avneesh Sudha (118* off 60) while doing so. In response, the USN Indians matched them shot for shot as openers Yuvraj Chaudhary (64 off 32) and Aarav Mahajan (81 off 47) bludgeoned the ball for fun themselves.
While they managed just 18 runs off the first three overs, they maximized the remainder of the powerplay to ransack 47 runs off the next three. Capitalizing on that foundation, an array of boundaries and sixes saw them race along to 126/0 in 11 overs, putting the USN Indians well ahead of the eight-ball curve as both batters raised rapid half-centuries. The in-form Chaudhary’s stay was brought to an end by Nikhil Pundir (2/38 off four overs) but it did not stop Mahajan from continuing with his pyrotechnics.
Pundir struck again in the 15th over to dismiss Mahajan but skipper Akhil Rawat (35* off 17) then strode out to take control of the situation alongside Aryan Sharma (33* off 21). The asking rate never escalated to gargantuan proportions as Rawat gave Sudha a taste of his own medicine. Even skipper Rajan Kumar wasn’t spared in the 19th over as it cost him 17 runs, leaving USN needing just two runs off the final over. Aryan finished things in style with a huge six over mid-wicket as USN completed a third straight win in UPL 2024.
In a match highlighted by batting of the highest caliber, Sudha and Priyanshu Khanduri (77 off 53) put the USN Indians attack to the sword earlier in the afternoon with the former racing off the traps without batting an eyelid. Unleashing shots right out of the top drawer, he picked his spots for fun and cleared the fence at will too as the SG Pipers were always primed to post a huge score. Khanduri played second fiddle although it took him a fair bit of time to catch up at his end. It never seemed a problem though with Sudha’s rampaging innings taking his team to 58 at the end of the powerplay.
The carnage never stopped as he notched up one of the fastest fifties of the tournament. Eventually, Khanduri picked up pace too as shots were fired from both ends with a hapless USN attack having no clue as to how to stop it. Sudha raised a spectacular century, becoming the first batter to cross triple-digits in the tournament in the process with his unbeaten 118 studded with eight hits over the fence.
Surprisingly though, once USN reached 182/0 at the end of the 18th over, Khanduri retired himself out as wicket-keeper batter Prateek Pandey (1 off 3) strode out. While he couldn’t score much, Aarush Melkhani (13* off 4) made the most of his brief stay in the final over, carting a six and a four off his first two balls as he powered his team to 210. But as teams have found out so often in UPL 2024, even this wasn’t a safe score with the USN Indians overpowering them with an equally breathtaking, if not better batting effort.
Scores: Nainital SG Pipers 210/2 in 20 overs (Priyanshu Khanduri 77 off 53, Avneesh Sudha 118* off 60, Devendra Bora 1/46 off four overs) lost to USN Indians 216/2 in 19.2 overs (Yuvraj Chaudhary 64 off 32, Aarav Mahajan 81 off 47, Nikhil Pundir 2/38 off four overs) by 8 wickets.
