Baba Aparajith and Washington Sundar’s heroics helped Tamil Nadu beat Saurashtra in a hard-fought semifinal. While Aparajith scored a crucial century, Sundar scored a quick 70 and helped Tamil Nadu cope up with the run rate. With this win, Tamil Nadu have reached Vijay Hazare finals for the record seventh time.
Earlier, after putting a mammoth total of 310 on the board, Saurashtra pacer Chetan Sakariya started superbly for his team. The left-arm quick accounted for in-form N Jagdessan in the very first over. He then dismissed Tamil Nadu skipper Vijay Shankar in the next over.
Meanwhile, Baba Aparajith kept the scoring rate up for Tamil Nadu with continuous striking.
Tamil Nadu won the toss and elected to field first. Vishvaraj Jadeja got Saurashtra off to a quick start, scoring 52 off 74 deliveries while Arpit Vasavada scored 57 off just 40 balls. However, it was Sheldon Jackson with his 134 from 125 deliveries who performed amazingly with the bat as Saurashtra put 310/8 on the board. Vijay Shankar was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets under his belt but conceded 74 runs.
In the run chase, Baba Aparajith scored 122 opening the innings for TN, with Baba Indrajith (50) and Washington Sundar (70) both helping Tamil Nadu reach close to the total.
For Saurashtra, Chetan Sakariya picked up 5 wickets for 62 but that was not enough as Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore scored a boundary off the last ball with the team needing 1 from 1 to seal victory.
Victory for Himachal Pradesh
On the other hand, Himachal Pradesh captain Rishi Dhawan was the best performer with bat and ball as Himachal Pradesh beat Services by 77 runs to march into the final of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22.
Himachal Pradesh is now scheduled to face Tamil Nadu in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Sunday (December 26) at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
