Himachal Wins Vijay Hazare Trophy

Himachal Pradesh stunned Tamil Nadu to clinch the Vijay Hazare Trophy for the first time ever as they sealed a win by 11 runs by VJD method in Jaipur. When bad light stopped play, Himachal were 299 for 4 in 47.3 overs in their pursuit of 314. It took a herculean effort from Shubham Arora to overshadow Dinesh Karthik’s century and carry his side past the finish line.

Once the coin fell in Rishi Dhawan’s favour, and Himachal decided to bowl, Vinay Galetiya struck on the fifth delivery of the game to remove Baba Aparajith. With some assistance on offer for the bowlers, Tamil Nadu made a cautious start and were 17 for 1 at the end of six overs. Dhawan struck with his first ball of the game when he had N Jagadeesan dismissed for 9.

After the powerplay, Tamil Nadu were 28 for 2 which soon became 40 for 4 as the four-time winners were left in a spot of bother. What followed was Karthik (116 off 103) and Baba Indrajith (80) putting their team back on top with a 202-run stand for the fifth wicket. Karthik took his chances for the first time in the 21st over when he struck two sixes against Galetiya. He followed it up with one more in the 23rd to put the bowler under pressure.

Himachal had a chance to end the threatening stand in the 33rd over but Arora failed to grab on to the chance given by Karthik, who was once again dropped in the 29th. When the second reprieve came, Karthik had raced to 97 off 93 and extended his association with Indrajith to 167. Karthik got to his century in the 41st over and with nine overs to go, had laid a perfect platform for a big finish.