Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), September 4: Noida Kings defeated defending champions Kashi Rudras by one run in a nail-biting Eliminator match of the UPT20 League 2026. The game, played at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana International Cricket Stadium, saw dramatic shifts in momentum and ended with Noida Kings advancing to Qualifier 2.
Noida Kings captain Prashant Veer was named Player of the Match for his outstanding all-around performance. He scored an unbeaten 58 runs off 28 balls, including five fours and four sixes, and took two crucial wickets. His partnership with Shiva Singh in the final overs proved decisive.
Kashi Rudras started strong after winning the toss and electing to bowl first. They reduced Noida Kings to 49/4 in eight overs, but Ravi Singh’s quickfire 31 runs briefly steadied the innings. Kashi maintained control, restricting Noida to 107/6 after 18 overs.
The match turned dramatically in the penultimate over when Veer and Shiva Singh scored 20 runs off Atal Bihari Vipin Rai’s over. In the final over, Veer hit three consecutive sixes to finish with 27 runs, taking Noida to a competitive total of 154/6.
Chasing 155, Kashi Rudras faced an uphill battle. Star batter Karan Sharma was dismissed early by Veer, and despite a strong partnership between Abhishek Goswami and Virat Jaiswal, the innings fell apart late. Upendra Yadav and Shubham Chaubey brought Kashi back into contention with a 48-run stand.
However, Kartik Siddhu’s hat-trick in the 19th over turned the tide. He conceded just three runs, leaving Kashi needing 14 runs from the final six balls. Pacer Vansh then defended the total in the last over, securing Noida Kings’ historic one-run victory.
With this win, Noida Kings advance to Qualifier 2, where they will face Meerut Mavericks. The winner of that match will proceed to the Grand Finale against Lucknow Falcons.