AI Simulation, UPT20 | Akshdeep leads from front to help Gorakhpur Lions trump Lucknow Falcons in Eliminator

‌Pitch and Weather

The Ekana pitch offered lively carry with the new ball, but the bounce faded noticeably once the Kookaburra lost its shine. Spinners found ample assistance, yet the surface’s consistent bounce allowed batters to play their strokes confidently after settling in.

As was the weather prediction, there was no rain on offer despite the significant cloud covering, with players instead contending with relentless extreme humidity.

Toss

Gorakhpur Lions won the toss and chose to bowl first owing to the dew factor. 

Lineups

Lucknow Falcons XI: Samarth Singh, Aaradhya Yadav (wk), Shoaib Siddiqui, Mohammad Saif, Sameer Choudhary, Kritagya Singh, Vipraj Nigam, Akshu Bajwa, Satyam Pandey, Bhuvneshwar Kuamr (c), Abhinandan Singh, Navneet 

Gorakhpur Lions XI: Nishant Kushwaha, Hardeep Singh (wk), Akshdeep Nath (c), Siddharth Jain, Bhaskar Bharadwaj, Prince Yadav, Shivam Sharma, Ankit Chaudhary, Vasu Vats, Teerath Singh, Vishal Nishad, Abdul Rehman

Match Report

Asked to bat first, Lucknow Falcons were dealth an early blow when their leading run-scorer for the season Aaradhya Yadav lasted just three overs before falling victim to Vasu Vats against the new ball. Nevertheless, his opening partner Samarth Singh took over the responsibility of exploiting the powerplay with a surgeon-like precision, splitting gaps at will to take the score to 60/1 after six with some help from Shoaib Siddiqui (32 off 24). The two men put on a commanding partnership of 76 as Samarth brought up a 34-ball half-century but just when they were threatening to take the game away, Teerath Singh struck twice in over to swing momentum back towards the Lions. Nevertheless, Mohammad Saif ensured the run rate remained competitive with the occasional boundary, and was key in avoiding a collapse as batters at the other end kept departing after brief and blistering cameos. Eventually, the batter ended with 31 off 21 deliveries, only getting out in the final over to ensure his team posted a par total of 176/6.

In response, Nishant Kushwaha and Hardeep Singh did well to contend with the new ball that was swinging like a pendulum in the control of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Once the Kookaburra lost some sheen, boundaries began to flow and by the end of the powerplay the team score read an imposing 55 for no loss. That changed rather quickly as the aggressor Kushwaha holed out attempting a biggie in the seventh over, eight deliveries before Satyam Pandey got rid of Hardeep Singh to leave the game finely poised. However, Akshdeep Nath and Siddharth Jain assumed complete control of the chase thereafter, toying with the bowlers to keep in tine with the required run rate with a 76-run stand off just 41 balls. Nevertheless, when Siddharth departed with four overs to go, Akshdeep still had a job on his hands with over 40 runs still to get. Yet, he had little to do as Bhaskar Bharadwaj took down Akshu Bajwa in gruesome fashion with 23 runs off the 18th over, before the skipper finished things off with a massive six as celebrations erupted in the Gorakhpur dressing room.            

Player of the Match

Akshdeep Nath was named the player of the match for his unbeaten 61 in jsut 41 deliveries, laced with six boundaries and two maximums -- inlcuidng the decisive blow in the penultimate over that sealed the result in Gorakhpur Lions' favour.

Scorecard