India batter Rinku Singh continued his excellent form in the UPT20 league with an unbeaten half-century on Saturday (August 30).
Rinku Singh takes Meerut Mavericks home with 78* in tricky chase
In the evening game on Saturday, Rinku's Meerut Mavericks were asked to field first after losing the toss. Kartik Tyagi helped reduce the Kashi Rudras to 30-2 inside the Powerplay, and regular strikes throughout meant their innings could not really get off the ground. Tyagi finished with 4-33, and Kashi opener Karan Sharma's 61 anchored the innings, seeing them through to 135-8.
Match 27, Kashi Rudras vs Meerut Mavericks
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- Ball by ball Over
Meerut were also in trouble early on in the chase, losing Swastik Chikara, Akshay Dubey and Rituraj Sharma with just 26 on the board. The last of those wickets brought Rinku to the crease, alongside former India U23 opener Madhav Kaushik.
Rinku initially struggled to find the balance between defence and attack, plodding to seven off 20 balls even as Kaushik faced just seven balls in that phase of play. He broke the shackles in the 10th over with a boundary square of the wicket off Yashovardhan Singh.
In the back half of the innings, Kaushik first took the initiative, before Rinku got into his groove. At the end of the 13th over of the chase, Rinku was on 25 off 33 balls, before hitting three boundaries off Ashish Kumar Yadav. The following over, he went 6, 6 and 4 off Shiva Singh to reach a half-century off 42 balls. Keeping strike for the 16th over, with 19 required to win, he took on Atal Bihari Rai, hitting three sixes and a four to complete the chase with 26 balls to spare.
Rinku finished on an unbeaten 78 off 48 balls, with his last 11 deliveries yielding 49 runs. This knock came after a 27-ball 57 against Lucknow Falcons three days prior, and a 48-ball 108 against Gaur Gorakhpur Lions earlier in the season. In nine matches this season, Rinku has scored 295 runs, averaging 59 and striking at 170.52.
The middle-order batter has been selected in India's squad for the Asia Cup, despite an indifferent run of recent form in national team colours; in the last 12 months, his 10 T20Is have yielded 128 runs at an average of 21, and strike rate just under 130. Runs under his belt in the UPT20 should give him and the team a boost in confidence.
Rinku Singh - UPT20 league, 2025
| Date | Opponent | Score |
| 17 August 2025 | Kanpur Superstars | DNB |
| 19 August 2025 | Lucknow Falcons | 23 (19) |
| 21 August 2025 | Gaur Gorakhpur Lions | 108* (48) |
| 23 August 2025 | Kashi Rudras | 1 (4) |
| 24 August 2025 | Noida Kings | 10 (14) |
| 25 August 2025 | Kanpur Superstars | DNB |
| 27 August 2025 | Lucknow Falcons | 57 (27) |
| 29 August 2025 | Gaur Gorakhpur Lions | 18 (13) |
| 30 August 2025 | Kashi Rudras | 78* (48) |
Image credit: YouTube / UPT20
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