Cricket
Himachal Pradesh reach Vijay Hazare Trophy final for first time
Tamil Nadu won a last-ball thriller in the other semi-final and will take on Himachal Pradesh in Sunday's final.
Rishi Dhawan played a star turn for Himachal Pradesh (Twitter/BCCI)
Rishi Dhawan led from the front as Himachal Pradesh routed Services by 77 runs in Jaipur on Friday to make it to Sunday's Vijay Hazare Trophy final. Tamil Nadu scraped through to the final by sealing a last-ball win against Saurashtra in the other semi-final of India's domestic 50-over competition.
Follow LIVE | Tamil Nadu vs Himachal Pradesh Vijay Hazare Trophy final
Himachal Pradesh have made it to the final of this tournament on the back of a Man of the Match performance from their captain, seam bowling all-rounder Rishi Dhawan. The 31-year-old came in with the bat when the team was in trouble at 106/4 in 25 overs. He struck a fluent 84 off 77 balls, lifting them to 281.
Services never got off to a start in their chase and collapsed as the required run rate crept up. Dhawan picked a four-fer with the ball.
This will be Himachal's first ever appearance in any domestic cricket final.
In the other semifinal, Tamil Nadu beat Saurasthra in a last-ball thriller to make it to the final. This will be seventh final for them since 2002.
Washington Sundar smashed 70 off 61 balls from No.6, taking Tamil Nadu to the cusp of victory in a run chase of 311. Sheldon Jackson had earlier scored a century for Saurashtra in this clash of heavyweights.
Brief Scores
Himachal Pradesh: 281/6 in 50 overs (Rishi Dhawan 84, Prashant Chopra 78, Akash Vasisht 45 not out; Raj Bahadur 2/52) beat Services (Rajat Paliwal 55, Ravi Chauhan 45; Rishi Dhawan 4/27, Akash Vasisht 2/28, Siddharth Saxena 2/34) by 77 runs.
