Teen Spinner Kartik Yadav’s Five-Wicket Haul Powers Uttar Pradesh to Victory Over Goa

Teenager Kartik Yadav's five-wicket stand helped Uttar Pradesh secure its first victory of the season against Goa on Day 3 of a five-match Elite Group A series at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur on Tuesday as the former Ranji Trophy champions and hosts secured a 68-run triumph.

Chasing 236 for victory, Goa were 167 all out in 46 overs in the second innings as UP wrapped up victory with over a day to spare. Young left arm spinner Kartik Yadav bowled in perfect conditions to return 5/37 for 14 from 14 overs. Pacer Vaibhav Chaudhary added 3/33 while leg spinner Zeeshan Ansari picked up 2/54 to help Uttar Pradesh secure a well-deserved win.

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Having picked up six wickets in the opening game of the season at Bihar in a Rajgir victory by an innings and 267 runs, Kartik Yadav had the Goan batsmen in a spin by his fast bowling on Day 3.

UP had to score strongly in their second innings and captain Aryan Juyal did not disappoint as they crossed the 38-run deficit with some ease. Juyal then kept the innings going with a steady 74 off 143 balls (6x4) while Abhishek Goswami and Madhav Kaushik both managed to hit on the first four balls without scoring. Now the lower order was given a chance to mount their platform with his knock, which brought the total to 197.

Karan Sharma was useful for 31 and Kartik Yadav for nine runs. However, it was the late flair of No.10 Yash Dayal that turned the game's tides. Dayal smashed 36 off 14 balls (3x4, 2x6). His cameo also followed that of Aaradhya Yadav who hit an unbeaten 13, which brought UP to the forefront of the game and extended its lead to 235.

The hosts were again troubled by the Pacer Yash Kasvankar who went 5/69 while Goa were pushed to chase 236 on a poor Kanpur surface.

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The chase from Goa failed to take off. Ansari's stunner Shivendra Bhujbal was stumped for 12, but Suyash Prabhudessai blasted a 72 off 106 balls, but wickets continued to fall at the other end. Kartik Yadav fired at regular intervals and took Snehal Kauthankar, Kasvankar, Ruthvik Naik and Vasuki Koushik, followed by Chaudhary who collected three wickets from the middle order.

A Kartik Yadav five-for won the game from 153/5 as he took the final five wickets for 14 runs. His second five-wicket double in five first-class matches.

Efforts of all departments contributed to UP's win. Rinku Singh's 100 got them going in their first innings, followed by the bat of Juyal who anchored in the second, a cameo by Dayal and the spin guns of Kartik Yadav, Zeeshan Ansari and Chaudhary did the rest.

UP will get a lot of confidence from their second victory, as their bowlers did well on the spin-friendly surface. UP have scored 13 points in two games and will head to Puducherry for their next two matches on October 26-29.

“We wanted to win this match at all costs as we wanted to continue our winning streak. Everyone played his part nicely. Batters created opportunities for our bowlers to do their jobs nicely,” UP coach Gyanendra Pandey said after the match.

Brief scores: Uttar Pradesh 202 (Rinku Singh 118*, Yash Kasvankar 5/86) & 197 (Aryan Juyal 74, Yash Dayal 36, Kasvankar 5/69) beat Goa 164 (Zeeshan Ansari 5/45) and 167 (Suyash Prabhudessai 72, Kartik Yadav 5/37). UP won by 68 runs.

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