Himachal Pradesh started their title match against Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Domestic One by defeating Services by 77 runs in the semi-finals played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Friday. -Day Championship.
Batting at No. 6, the Himachal Pradesh skipper slammed a 77-ball 84 to help his team recover from a mid-innings collapse and put on a 281 for six.
In reply, Services were bundled out for 204 in 46.1 overs, with Dhawan leading the way with four for 27 in 8.1 overs.
Earlier, Dhawan hit nine fours and a six, and got full support from Akash Vashisht, who hit four fours and two sixes in his quick knock of 45 not out off 29 balls.
Put, Himachal lost Shubham Arora in the second over of the day followed by Prashant Chopra (78 off 109 balls) and Digvijay Rangi (37 off 59 balls).
This meant that Himachal were slow to start the blocks, reaching 100 runs in 22.2 overs.
Trying to accelerate the scoring, Himachal were bundled out for 106 for four, losing three wickets for 24 runs in the middle overs.
Off-spinner Rahul Singh provided the breakthrough by dismissing Rangi, while Nikhil Gangta (16) was run out after a brilliant throw from Mohit Ahlawat.
Service pacer Divesh Pathania then trapped Amit Kumar for a duck as Himachal were in trouble.
But Dhawan, well-set, caught the slide, playing the perfect role for Chopra, as the two stitched together an 88-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Chopra, however, failed to convert his start and was dismissed in the 42nd over and then it was a Dhawan-Vashisht show as he seized the momentum in the death overs with his counter-attack.
The duo put on an entertaining 83-run partnership before Dhawan was dismissed in the final over.
Dhawan, the seam-bowling all-rounder, then came to the party with the ball, the first two service wickets – Lakhan Singh (7) and Mohit Ahlawat (6) – scoring 36 runs in 13 overs.
Vashisht also followed up his scintillating performance with the bat, picking up 2 for 28 with his left-arm spin.
Services captain Rajat Paliwal kept the team in the hunt with a scintillating half-century (55 off 66 balls) as they needed 133 runs in 15 overs.
But Siddharth Saxena then chased down Services by dismissing Paliwal and Pulkit Narang.
Saxena also run out wicket-keeper batsman Devendra Lochab as Services lost two consecutive wickets in the 41st over.
Later, Dhawan polishes the tail, bowling Raj Bahadur for his fourth wicket to seal the issue for Himachal.
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