Twitter Reactions: Shubham Arora takes Himachal Pradesh to maiden domestic title in Vijay Hazare Trophy final

Himachal Pradesh clinch their first ever title in domestic cricket as they beat Tamil Nadu by 11 runs in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021. The end was a pretty controversial one as the V Jayadevan system has to come into play due to visibility issues. However, it would be safe to state that Himachal Pradesh was the better side.

Earlier in the game, Himachal Pradesh won the toss and opted to bowl at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The decision proved to be spot on as Tamil Nadu suffered a top order collapse. Vinay Galetiya and Rishi Dhawan made the new ball talk and took wickets in cluster. At 40/4, Tamil Nadu looked in all sorts of trouble.

However, veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik came to the party and sent Himachal Pradesh bowlers on the backfoot. He found a potent partner in Baba Indrajith, who also looked in fine touch. The duo just didn’t bat with precision but also scored runs at an impressive strike rate. While Indrajit got out for a 71-ball 80, Karthik went onto smash a sensational hundred.

The final impetus were given by Shahrukh Khan and skipper Vijay Shankar, who scored runs for fun in the end overs. As a result, Tamil Nadu posted 314 while in 49.4 overs. Chasing the challenging total, Himachal Pradesh batters were pretty calculative in their approach as Tamil Nadu fielders looked worried throughout the second half of the game.

Shubham Arora tormented the Tamil Nadu bowlers

Opener Shubham Arora was the wreaker-in-chief for Himachal Pradesh as he didn’t lose concentration despite the wickets falling at the other end. The likes of Digvijay Rangi and Nikhil Gangta were dismissed cheaply as the contest spiced up. The impact partnership was recorded between Shubham Arora and Amit Kumar, who added 148 runs for the fourth wicket.

However, the required run rate kept increasing with time as the game was heading towards a thrilling finish. Fortunately for Himachal Pradesh, skipper Rishi Dhawan came to the party and unleashed an onslaught in the latter half of the game. His 23-ball 42 put Himachal Pradesh completely in the driver’s seat.

At 299/4 in 47.3 overs, there was tension in both games. However, the umpires then decided to call off the game due to visibility issues. This way Himachal Pradesh lifted their first title in domestic cricket.

Meanwhile, let’s look at how Twitterati reacted to the thrilling contest: