UPT20 2023: Noida Super Kings defend 19 runs in Super Over to win a thriller against Kashi Rudra

Kanpur, 6^th September 2023: In yet another memorable UPT20 encounter, the Noida Super Kings edged out Kashi Rudras in a Super Over thriller at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. Demonstrating remarkable grit, the Noida Super Kings tied the score when chasing 165 runs and defended 19 runs in the Super Over, marking their fourth victory this season. Nitish Rana emerged as the differentiator, contributing a fierce half-century of 58 runs and dominating the Super Over, while Prashant Veer added vital runs, tying the game with a cool 38*.

On the other hand, Kashi’s Atal Bihari Rai impressed again clinching a notable four-wicket haul in the high-octane face-off. 

Invited to bat first by the Noida Super Kings, Captain Karan Sharma (5) lost his wicket early as he was castled by Kunal Tyagi. While Noida’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar also executed a tight spell, Kashi Rudras still finished the powerplay on a positive note, at 45/1 with Shiva Singh (36) and Shivam Bansal (37) cracking a series of boundaries to get them there. The 10^th over saw Shiva Singh stumped by a flat delivery from left-armer Saurabh Kumar with the score reading 71-2.

Prince Yadav (50) made his intentions crystal clear getting off the mark with a six over covers, he joined Shivam Bansal to put on 36 runs before the latter was dismissed by Prashant Veer in the 15^th over at 107/3. Prince Yadav and Ankur Malik (19) smashed 17 runs in the 18^th over before Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped Ankur Malik (19) and Priyanshu Pandey (0) in consecutive balls while the hattrick ball saw the run-out of Mohamed Sharim in the 19^th over. Prince Yadav was finally run out in the penultimate ball of the innings, but only after he completed his 32-ball half-century to ensure the Kashi Rudras finished at 165/7. 

In response, a slow-burn start meant the Noida Super Kings lost Samarth Singh (5) and Arjun Bharadwaj (0) to the swing of Atal Bihari Rai. Cautiously, opener Almas Shaukat (38) and Nitish Rana constructed a critical partnership through the middle overs of 62 runs, however, the alliance was broken by Karan Sharma in the 11^th over bringing wicketkeeper-batsman, Aditya Sharma to the crease with Noida placed at 72/3. When six overs were remaining Noida Super Kings still needed 65 runs. Atal Bihari Rai came back to finish his spell and had an immediate impact as he dismissed Adity Sharma (12) and Osho Mohan (2) in the over, to bring his tally for the evening to four wickets.  

Also, Prashant Veer (38*) was dropped in the 18th over, but in a fortunate turn of events for Kashi Rudras, Nitish Rana was ran out on the same delivery. However, Prashant Veer orchestrated a 14-run over in the 19^th, and in a last-ball finish, smashed two sixes in the final over to ensure the scores were tied at the end of 20 overs at 165/7 resulting in a Super Over. 

In the Super Over, Nitish Rana and Osho Mohan came out to bat for the Noida Super Kings, and the pair extracted 19 runs of Atal Bihari Rai’s over with Nitish Rana scoring 16 runs off five deliveries to set a challenging target for the Kashi Rudras. With Karan Sharma and Prince Yadav at the crease for Kashi Rudras, they only managed to score 11 runs off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s over thus failing to cross the finishing line. 

Brief Scores 

Kashi Rudras tied with Noida Super Kings (NSK win Super Over by 8 runs) 

Kashi Rudras: 165/7 in 20 overs ( Prince Yadav – 50 runs in 32 balls, Shivam Bansal – 37 runs in 37 balls, Shiva Singh – 36 runs in 28 balls, Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 2/25, Kunal Tyagi – 1-18, Prashant Veer – 1/26, Saurabh Kumar – 1/28) 

Noida Super Kings:  165/7  in 20 overs (Nitish Rana – 58 runs in 49 balls, Almas Shaukat – 38 runs in 28 balls, Prashant Veer – 38* runs in 17 balls, Atal Bihari Rai - Karan Sharma –1/38) 

Super Over 

Noida Super Kings: 19/0 in 1 over ( Nitish Rana – 16 runs in 5 balls, Osho Mohan – 1 run in 1 ball, Atal Bihari Rai – 0/19, extras – 2) 

Kashi Rudras – 11/0 in 1 over (Karan Sharma - 10 runs in 4 balls, Prince Yadav - 1 run in 2 balls )