Jaipur, Dec 26 (FN Representative) Himachal Pradesh defeated the three-time champions Tamil Nadu by 11 runs in the final to lift their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Sunday. The Rishi Dhawan-led side was declared winner by VJD system after the match was ended due to bad light with 15 balls left. Wicket-keeper Shubham Arora scored unbeaten 136 off 131 balls, including 13 boundaries and one six. Amit Kumar was the second best scorer with 74 off 79 balls. While, captain Rishi Dhawan scored 42 not out off 23 deliveries to help their side reach 299 for the loss of four wickets.
Tamil Nadu’s Washington Sundar, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Murugan Ashwin and Baba Aparajith claimed one wicket each. Batting first, Tamil Nadu had a shaky start as they suffered early loss of wickets as their opening duo Baba Aparajith (2) and N Jagadeeshan (9) were sent back to pavilion. Soon, Saikishore and Murugan Ashwin also headed back to pavilion, leaving Tamil Nadu at 40/4. Then, Dinesh Karthik’s blistering knock of 116 runs and Baba Indrajith’s 80 off 71 balls put up a brilliant 202-run partnership for the fifth wicket, before Digvijay Rangi dismissed Indrajith and Sidharth Sharma removed Karthik in the 45th and 46th over, respectively. Later, Sharakuh Khan’s quickfire 21-ball 40 along with skipper Vijay Shankar’s 22-run cameo helped Tamil Nadu post 314 runs. Himachal Pradesh’s Pankaj Jaiswal picked four wickets, and Rishi Dhawan scalped three. Vinay Galetiya, Sidharth Sharma and Digvijay Rangi claimed one wicket each.