WATCH: Chennai Super Kings youngster Sameer Rizvi smashes 89 vs Lucknow Falcons in UP T20 League

It was a great day with the bat for young Chennai Super Kings batter Sameer Rizvi. The right-handed batter scored a match-winning 89 for Kanpur Superstars in the UP T20 League. The knock helped Kanpur Superstars beat Lucknow Falcons by three runs in the league’s third match. 

Sameer Rizvi was brought in for a huge sum of money during the IPL 2024 auctions by Chennai Super Kings. The 20-year-old played just 8 games during the tournament and scored 51 runs with a best of 21. 

Sameer Rizvi started his up t20 with a Banger when the team was in trouble. He led his team to the win

89 runs from 51 8 4s 6 6s. At 174.51 SR

We should buy back this blud at any cost. All he needs his proper backing and More exposure to the game#Rizvi #CSK #UPT20League pic.twitter.com/NDnial9AS8

— Yellove aficionado (@yellovexfreaks) August 26, 2024

Meanwhile, Lucknow Falcons have veteran Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar playing the UP T20 League for the first time. The 34-year-old bowled four overs and gave away 33 runs and picked the wicket of Osho Mohan for 4. 

Sameer Rizvi leads Kanpur Superstars to close win 

It was Kanpur Superstars who batted first and were placed a precarious-looking 50 for 6 at one stage. After Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Osho Mohan it was the turn of Abhinandan Singh to run riot. 

The Kanpur pacer Adarsh Singh and Shaurya Singh in quick succession for 6 and 0. Shoaib Siddique was the next batter to fall to Singh after scoring 10 runs from 9 balls. Kumar Singh ran out Ankur Malik for 1 and then bowled Mohsin Khan for 2 to leave Kanpur reeling. 

This is when Sameer Rizvi came to the fore as he batted well with the tail. The 20-year-old began with caution, but once he saw wickets fall at the other end Sameer Rizvi began to attack. With a six Sameer Rizvi reached his fifty and scored 89 runs from 51 balls with 8 fours and 6 sixes. Abhinandan Singh got his 4th wicket when he had Rizvi caught by Aaradhya Yadav. 

Defending a total of 156, Mohsin Khan gave Kanpur a good start as he got the wicket of Harsh Tyagi for a duck. Priyam Garg and Samarth Singh added 32 runs for the 2nd wicket in 17 balls before Samarth was out for 29 off 13 balls with 5 fours and a six. 

Following the loss of Samarth Singh, it was the pair of Garg and Aaradhya Yadav who steadied the ship with a stand of 44 runs. Vineet Panwar dismissed Yadav for 22 while Aaqib Khan dismissed Garg for 31 to deal huge blows. 

Shubham Mishra was the best bowler for Kanpur with 4/29 as Vineet Panwar took 2 wickets. Despite the late flourish from Lucknow's lower order, Kanpur held their nerves to eke out a close win.