Himachal stuns mighty TN in Vijay Hazare Trophy final for maiden title
Jaipur, Dec 26: The hill state of Himachal Pradesh on Sunday reached its zenith in cricket, with a stunning 11-run victory over mighty Tamil Nadu in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here.
Youngster Shubham Arora came out all guns blazing with his maiden List A century as Himachal downed five-time champions Tamil Nadu under the VJD method to win their first ever domestic one-day championship.
Chasing a stiff 315, Himachal Pradesh, who were playing their maiden Vijay Hazare final, responded in style with the 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batter making a fine 136 not out with 13 fours and one six.
With Himachal 299/4 in 47.3 overs, and needing 16 off 15 balls, bad light suspended play at 5pm, before Himachal were declared winners under the VJD Method.
Tamil Nadu have been the best domestic side in the country in white-ball cricket since the 2019-20 season.
After losing the finals of the one-day and T20 competitions in 2019, the team has won back-to-back titles in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20s (2020-21 and 2021-22), but underdogs Himachal outplayed the favourites on this occasion.
On a day when veteran wicketkeeper-batter and former captain Dinesh Karthik smashed an entertaining 103-ball 116, the young Himachal glovesman outshone the seasoned pro with his well-calculated, unbeaten century under pressure.
After opting to field on a flat Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Rishi Dhawan took another fine call in sending Amit Kumar ahead of him, as the skipper chose to play the role of a finisher.
The move paid dividends as the the left-right combination of Arora and Amit (74 from 79 balls; 6x4) added 148 for the fourth wicket in a match-winning partnership.
After Baba Aparajith gave TN the much-needed breakthrough by dismissing Amit, Himachal needed 71 from 54 deliveries, but Rishi played his role to perfection, hammering the rival bowling attack to make it look easy in the end.
Eyeing a record sixth title in the tournament and a limited-overs double this season, Tamil Nadu, who recently won the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20, were lacklustre on the field.
Skipper Vijay Shankar made a blunder as he fumbled when he was presented a crucial run-out opportunity when Arora was on 113.
Arora was also grassed by Jagdishan when he was on 135, with Himachal needing 18 in as many balls.
"The team has backed me throughout the tournament. I just wanted to play my natural game and built on my innings after I got set," said Man of the Match Arora.
An elated Dhawan said: "Finally we have won a title, it's the result of our hard work over the years. We knew the conditions well here and so we just to stay on there."
Eyeing a maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy title, Himachal started strongly with a 60-run opening stand between Arora and Prashant Chopra (21 off 26 balls).
But Tamil Nadu effected a double blow, dismissing Chopra, Digvijay Rangi (0) in a space of five balls to leave them at 61/2 in 9.3 overs.
HP were then reduced to 96/3 in 16.1 overs with Murugan Ashwin dismissing Nikhil Gangta off his very first delivery.
But the left-handed Arora remained calm, while Amit Kumar, coming ahead of skipper Rishi, played a perfect second fiddle.
The left-right combination kept rotating the strike and snatched quick singles.
Arora and Kumar slowly pulled the game out of Tamil Nadu's hands as they struggled to break the partnership.
Arora was very strong square of the wicket and fine leg. Even fortune favoured Arora as he raced to 99 after getting a big outside edge off Sadeep Warrier, but an outstretched Karthik could hardly reach the ball.
Earlier, Karthik's century and Shahrukh Khan's fantastic finishing -- 42 off 21 balls with three fours and three sixes -- propelled Tamil Nadu after they were 40 for four at one stage.
Karthik struck eight fours and seven sixes. Baba Indrajith smashed 80 in 71 balls.
Brief scores:
Tamil Nadu: 314 all out in 49.4 overs (Dinesh Karthik 116, Baba Indrajith 80, Shahrukh Khan 42; Pankaj Jaswal 4/59, Rishi Dhawan 3/62) lost to Himachal Pradesh 299/4; 47.3 overs (Shubham Arora 136 not out, Amit Kumar 74, Rishi Dhawan 42 not out) by 11 runs (VJD Method after bad light suspended play).
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CCTVs in police stations: SC asks amicus to convene meeting on utilisation of funds
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that a meeting be convened on May 6 to deliberate on the aspect of utilisation of funds by the states on installation of CCTVs in police stations across the country.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta asked senior advocate Siddhartha Dave, who is assisting it as an amicus curiae in a suo motu matter concerning lack of functional CCTVs in police stations, to hold a meeting on May 6 with the Centre, all states and Union Territories.
"We are of the view that a meeting be convened by the amicus, as done earlier, in which the home secretary of the central government or his nominee not below the rank of joint or additional secretary and the home secretary of states/Union Territories will participate," the bench said.
The issue cropped up after the amicus flagged the aspect of utilisation of funds by the states.
Dave told the bench that in UTs, the Centre gives 100 percent funds while in hilly states, the central government gives 90 percent funding.
He said in remaining states, the Centre gives 60 percent while the rest 40 percent funding is by the respective state.
"Why don't we get responses of the states only on utilisation of funds?" the bench said.
The top court suggested that the amicus can convene a meeting with the Centre, states and UTs on the issue.
It posted the matter for hearing on May 13 and said that a report be submitted before it.
On April 7, the Centre told the top court that all issues concerning installation of CCTVs in police stations would be sorted out within two weeks.
Attorney General R Venkataramani had told the bench that he was taking stock of the issue and a lot of things were happening.
On February 26, the apex court directed the Centre and others to participate in a meeting to deliberate upon the feasibility, modalities and implementation framework of the issues, including creation of a centralised dashboard and standardisation of CCTV infrastructure in police stations.
The top court had earlier directed registration of a suo motu case over the lack of functional CCTVs in police stations after taking cognisance of a media report.
The apex court had in 2018 ordered the installation of CCTV cameras across police stations to check human rights abuses.
In December 2020, the top court directed the Centre to install CCTV cameras and recording equipment at the offices of investigating agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
It said that states and UTs should ensure that CCTV cameras were installed at every police station, at all entry and exit points, main gate, lock-ups, corridors, lobby and reception, as well as in areas outside the lock-up rooms so that no part was left uncovered.
The top court said that CCTV systems must be equipped with night vision and have audio as well as video footage.
The court made it mandatory for the Centre, states and the UTs to purchase such systems which allow storage of data for at least one year.
