That's all from this one-sided contest, folks! For now, this is Deepak Prakash signing off on behalf of scorer/analyst Ghanendra Singh Thakur. CHEERS!
Anurag Dwivedi (Lucknow Lions Captain): "I wasnβt relaxed because I know that in cricket, anything can happen at any time. For me, every run is important, and I donβt take the game lightly."
Akash Yadav (Player of the Match): "As an opener, it's my responsibility to score as many runs as possible for the team, and I'm happy to embrace it. The plan was to make it as easy as possible for the bowlers."
Player of the Match: Akash Yadav
Time for the post-match presentation......
10:58 PM IST, Local Time: Lucknow Lions drub Mumbai Disruptors by a massive 117 runs and start their campaign on a high note. Poor batting display from the Mumbai Disruptors, as they even failed to match Akash Yadav's individual score.
Earlier, after being invited to bat first, Akash Yadav and Aman Deep Singh went honkers and bonkers from the first ball and added 86 runs for the first wicket in quick succession. Aman departed after a cameo of 24 runs, and Lions lost a few wickets at regular intervals, but Akash continued hammering the bowlers and smashed a mammoth and unbeaten 154 runs off just 36 balls, helping his side post a mountain of runs. Mudasir Bhat bagged three wickets for Mumbai Disruptors, while Suyyash Rai, Ansh, and Awez Darbar bagged one wicket each.
In response to a mammoth total, Mumbai Disruptors never looked in the game and lost wickets at regular intervals. They lost their skipper, Munawar Faruqui, for a golden duck on the first ball of the chase. Aditya Singh Bhadoria (22) tried to accelerate things a bit, but his innings was short-lived. Samarth Jurel played 23 balls but could only contribute 26 runs in it.
Lucknow Lions chipped in with wickets regularly and skittled Munawar Faruqui's team to 115 runs in 9.4 overs. Manohar Kumar Bhat bagged three wickets for them. Bobby Yadav bagged a couple of wickets, while Deepak Kumar Meena, Ashish Kumar Meena, Harpal Saikia, and Anurag Dwivedi contributed one wicket to the downfall.