Vijay Hazare Trophy: Rishi Dhawan shines as Himachal beat Services, set up final clash with Tamil Nadu

Batting
at
No
6,
the
Himachal
Pradesh
skipper
top-scored
with
a
77-ball
84
to
help
his
side
recover
from
a
mid-innings
collapse
and
prop
up
a
fighting
281
for
six.
In
reply,
Services
were
bundled
out
for
204
in
46.1
overs
with
Dhawan
being
the
wrecker-in-chief
with
figures
of
four
for
27
from
8.1
overs.

Earlier,
Dhawan
hit
nine
boundaries
and
one
six
and
got
perfect
support
from
Akash
Vasisht,
who
smacked
four
boundaries
and
two
sixes
in
his
quickfire
45
not
out
from
29
balls.

Put
in
to
bat
first,
Himachal
lost
Shubham
Arora
in
the
second
over
of
the
day
and
thereafter
Prashant
Chopra
(78
off
109
balls)
and
Digvijay
Rangi
(37
off
59
balls)
were
at
their
watchful
best.

It
meant
Himachal
were
slow
to
start
off
the
blocks,
taking
22.2
overs
to
reach
the
100-run
mark.
Trying
to
accelerate
the
scoring,
Himachal
lost
three
wickets
for
24
runs
in
the
middle
overs
to
find
the
team
at
106
for
four
at
the
halfway
mark.

Off-spinner
Rahul
Singh
gave
the
breakthrough
dismissing
Rangi,
while
Nikhil
Gangta
(16)
was
run
out
after
a
brilliant
throw
from
Mohit
Ahlawat.
Services
pace
spearhead
Diwesh
Pathania
then
trapped
Amit
Kumar
for
a
duck
as
Himachal
looked
in
a
spot
of
bother.

But
Dhawan
arrested
the
slide,
playing
a
perfect
fiddle
to
the
well-set
Chopra,
the
duo
stitching
88
runs
for
the
fifth
wicket.
Chopra,
however,
failed
to
convert
his
start
and
got
out
in
the
42nd
over
and
then
it
was
Dhawan-Vasisht
show
as
they
seized
the
momentum
in
the
death
overs
with
their
counter-attacking
show.

The
duo
was
involved
in
an
entertaining
83-run
partnership
before
Dhawan
got
out
in
the
final
over.
Dhawan,
the
seam-bowling
all-rounder,
then
came
to
the
party
with
the
ball,
taking
the
first
two
Services
wickets
—
Lakhan
Singh
(7)
and
Mohit
Ahlawat
(6)
—
for
36
runs
inside
13
overs.

Vasisht
also
followed
up
his
superb
show
with
the
bat
by
bagging
2
for
28
with
his
left-arm
spin.
Services
skipper
Rajat
Paliwal
kept
the
team
in
the
hunt
with
a
fine
half-century
(55
off
66
balls)
as
they
needed
133
runs
from
15
overs.
But
Siddharth
Saxena
then
dismissed
Paliwal
and
Pulkit
Narang
to
derail
Services’ chase.

Saxena
also
ran
out
wicketkeeper-batsman
Devender
Lochab
as
Services
lost
two
wickets
in
succession
in
the
41st
over.

Later,
Dhawan
polished
off
the
tail,
castling
Raj
Bahadur
en
route
to
his
fourth
wicket
to
seal
the
issue
for
Himachal.

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.

(With
PTI
inputs)