Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021: Himachal Pradesh defeat Tamil Nadu in final to clinch their maiden title

Himachal Pradesh defeated Tamil Nadu on Sunday (December 26) in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final, which was full of twists and turns in Jaipur. However, a complete team effort saw Himachal winning their first-ever domestic title.

Choosing to bowl first, HP were off to an amazing start as they had Tamil Nadu reeling at 40 for four. However, Dinesh Karthik the backbone of Tamil Nadu rose to the occasion along with Baba Indrajith, who scored 80 of just 71, taking the team to a strong position in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Final. the duo went on to put 202-run partnership for the fifth wicket.

Karthik took charge and showed his class under pressure by scoring a ton off just 96 balls. The wicketkeeper-batter was patient when he started the innings but then took the bowlers by storm after he completed his half-century in 67 balls. He played a brilliant knock of 116 of 103 balls smashing 8 boundaries and 7 sixes at a strike rate of 112.62.

Later, cameos from skipper Vijay Shanker (22 runs of 16 balls) and Shahrukh Khan (42 runs of 21 balls) got Tamil Nadu to 314 runs in 49.4 overs.

Rishi Dhawan in this Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021:-

61(50) & 6-0-38-0
44(52) & 7.3-0-44-3
57(36) & 8.2-1-52-2
79(61) & 10-0-63-1
91*(58) & 6.1-0-51-3
0(3) & 10-0-60-1
84(77) & 8.1-0-27-4
42*(23) & 10-0-62-3

2nd Most Runs scorer, 2nd Most Highest Wickettaker in this VHT 2021. pic.twitter.com/XwZCkZu18T

— CricketMAN2 (@man4_cricket) December 26, 2021

Chasing 315, the Himachal Pradesh team got off to a flying start as openers Shubham Arora and Prashant Chopra put on 60 runs for the opening wicket in just 8.5 overs. Left-arm spinner Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore was introduced into the attack and he dismissed Prashant Chopra out bowled for just 21.

In the next over Washington Sundar cleaned up Digvijay Rangi for a three-ball duck. Nikhil Gangta came in and he hit 2 sixes but was dismissed by Murugan Ashwin for 18 as Himachal looked in a spot of bother at 96 for three.

Amit Kumar walked in to bat and forged a partnership with wicket-keeper batter Shubham Arora. Amit Kumar scored a half-century of 57 balls. Opener Shubham Arora notched up his maiden century in List A cricket which came of just 95 balls as Himachal's total went past the 200-run mark and the duo also struck a century partnership.

The 148-run partnership was finally broken by Baba Aparajith dismissing Amit Kumar for 74 of 79 balls. Skipper Rishi Dhawan walked in and he went berserk hitting boundaries and sixes as the required run-rate had gone up over 8 runs per over.

Dhawan's blistering knock meant Himachal needed only 38 runs of 6 overs. With 16 needed of 15 balls for Himachal, the poor weather interrupted the play. As per the V Jayadevan method Himachal were 11 runs ahead and were awarded the match.

Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu 314/10 (Dinesh Karthik 116 (103), Baba Indrajith 80 (71), Shahrukh Khan 42 (21); Pankaj Jaswal 4-59, Rishi Dhawan 3-62) vs Himachal Pradesh 299/4 (Shubham Arora 136*(131), 74 (79), Rishi Dhawan 42(23); Baba Aparajith 1/45)