Yadav, Saif seal Lucknow Falcons’ first win | Lucknow News
Lucknow: Aradhaya Yadav and Mohammad Saif struck fine half-centuries to guide Lucknow Falcons to their first victory of the season, defeating Meerut Mavericks by five wickets.After restricting the high-flying Mavericks to a modest total of 150 runs, Lucknow romped home with nine balls to spare. Aradhaya Yadav smashed a brilliant 62 off 51 balls, hitting six boundaries and two sixes. He added 95 runs with Mohammad Saif, who scored 55 off 33 balls, including seven boundaries and two towering sixes. The Mavericks got off to a disastrous start when Kishan Singh removed Akshay Dubey in the very first over. Swastik Chikara (32) and in-form Madhav Kaushik (25) then added 45 runs for the second wicket at a decent pace before Chikara was caught by Aradhaya Yadav off Karan Chaudhary. Skipper Rinku Singh made a useful 23 but was cleaned up by Parv Singh in the 15th over, leaving the Mavericks struggling at 105/6. Late cameos from Zeeshan Ansari (22) and Yash Garg (22) helped them post a fighting total of 150. Vipraj Nigam bagged 2/21, while Parv Singh also claimed two wickets. Meanwhile, an unbeaten ton by Adarsh Singh went in vain as Kanpur Superstars suffered their second successive defeat, falling 24 runs short of Kashi Rudras’ 201. The star of Kashi’s second consecutive win was Abhishek Goswami (84 off 52 balls), who guided his side to 201/3. He shared a 36-run stand for the first wicket with skipper Karan Sharma (19), followed by a 96-run partnership with Uzair Ahmad (48). For Kanpur Superstars, Adarsh Singh smashed a brilliant, unbeaten century (59 balls; 9 fours, 4 sixes) and skipper Sameer Rizvi contributed 25, but the rest of the batting line-up faltered. For Kashi Rudras, Sunil Kumar bagged three wickets, while Atal Bihari Rai chipped in with two.
