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Dehradun, September 23 (HS). USN Indians have won the title of the inaugural edition of the Uttarakhand Premier League thanks to the brilliant performances of Yuvraj Chaudhary and Akhil Rawat. In the title match played at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun on Sunday night, USN Indians defeated Nainital SG Pipers by 40 runs to win the title.
Yuvraj Choudhary was named Player of the Final for his brilliant innings of 103 runs and taking 2 wickets in bowling.
For Nainital SG Pipers, this was the second big disappointment in two days. Their women's team finished runners-up on Saturday, and their men's team also failed to win the title on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 204 runs, Nainital SG Pipers had a great start. Openers Avnish Sudha and Priyanshu Khanduri took full advantage of the powerplay and scored 51/0 in just 4 overs.
However, USN Indians' Agraim Tiwari broke the partnership by taking the crucial wicket of Priyanshu Khanduri (26 off 12 balls). Avnish Sudha was then stumped for 33 runs (22 balls) in the seventh over.
After the dismissal of both the set batsmen, the responsibility fell on the middle order batsmen of Nainital, but they could not stand under pressure and kept losing wickets continuously. Harsh Rana played a fighting innings of 35 runs in 16 balls, but the Nainital team was all out at 163 runs in 17.1 overs.
For USN Indians, Prashant Chauhan took a brilliant 3/35 while Yuvraj Choudhary and Agrim Tiwari took two wickets each.
Earlier, Nainital SG Pipers won the toss and decided to bowl first, USN Indians had a bad start. Their opener Aarav Mahajan was out on the third ball without opening the account. After this, captain Kunal Chandela also returned to the pavilion in the very next over after scoring just 5 runs.
After the initial setbacks, USN Indians star batsman Yuvraj Chaudhary found his rhythm and made full use of the powerplay. He changed the direction of the game by hitting two fours and two sixes in Mayank Mishra's over.
However, Yuvraj was unable to find a stable partner as wickets kept falling from the other end. Shashank Pant stayed till the 13th over and scored 20 runs (from 22 balls) but he too was dismissed, leaving USN Indians at 101/5.
The game took a new turn when Akhil Rawat came to the crease and batted explosively with Yuvraj Chaudhary. Both hit big shots in the last five overs, with Yuvraj hitting three sixes in four balls to complete his century in 47 balls. However, he was out on the very next ball after completing his century. He scored 103 runs in 49 balls, which included 5 fours and 11 sixes.
Akhil Rawat also took inspiration from Yuvraj and batted explosively till the end and hit four consecutive sixes in the last over to take USN Indians to a huge score of 203/7. He scored an unbeaten 61 off 25 balls, which included 2 fours and 7 sixes.
The USN Indians were presented with the winning trophy and prize money of Rs 25 lakh by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
USN Indians players also won all the season awards. Yuvraj Chaudhary was awarded the Player of the Final as well as the Orange Cap as he scored 322 runs in five matches. Along with this, he also received prize money of Rs 20,000. He also won the prestigious Jai Hind Auto Tech Industries Player of the Tournament title, which fetched him a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000 lakh.
Prashant Chauhan was awarded the Bowler of the League title along with the Purple Cap and Rs 20,000, while young opener Aarav Mahajan was given the Emerging Player of the League award, which also carried a cash prize of Rs 20,000.