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KL Rahul has been drafted in as the 16th member of India’s squad that will tour Zimbabwe for three ODIs between August 18 and 22. Rahul will also captain the squad, with Shikhar Dhawan, who was earlier set to lead, now named his deputy.Rahul’s inclusion follows a clearance from BCCI’s medical team that has earlier advised a two-week post-Covid-19 recovery time frame. Rahul is believed to have contracted the virus a week prior to his scheduled departure for the West Indies mid-July, for the five match T20I-series. Last week, Rahul was named in India’s full-strength squad for the Asia Cup that will be held in UAE from August 27.Since recovering from Covid, Rahul has had to pass the mandatory cardiovascular test following which he has slowly amped up his training routine. ESPNcricinfo understands Rahul has resumed batting and training full tilt over the past week, following which he underwent a medical assessment. Prior to contracting Covid, Rahul had been recovering from a surgery he underwent for sports hernia in Germany in June.Rahul hasn’t played any competitive cricket since IPL 2022, where he led debutant-franchise Lucknow Super Giants to the playoffs. He was initially set to be part of the England tour party for the fifth Test in Birmingham in early July, but had to pull out due to a groin strain, which was later revealed as a sports hernia.This will be Rahul’s second stint as India captain. His first stint was far from memorable, with India being blanked 3-0 in the ODIs in South Africa earlier this year.

Injury scare for Washington Sundar

Washington Sundar, who is also part of the squad, suffered an injury scare on Wednesday. In the midst of a stint with English county Lancashire, Washington landed heavily on his left shoulder after diving from mid-on to stop a drive in a Royal London Cup fixture against Worcestershire. He left the field immediately and didn’t take any further part in the match as a precautionary measure. Washington is likely to link up with India’s squad directly in Harare after Lancashire’s clash against Hampshire on Sunday.Like Rahul, Washington too has had a run of injuries this year. In February, he was sidelined from the West Indies and Sri Lanka T20Is at home due to a hamstring injury. During the IPL, he injured his bowling hand while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He then underwent a month-long rehabilitation at the NCA in June and it is understood he had a shoulder issue to sort out before making his County Championship debut.The Indian team will depart for Zimbabwe later this week. All three ODIs will be played at Harare Sports Club, with the hosts on a high after an impressive 2-1 win over Bangladesh. While the series is part of the ICC World Cup Super League and massively important for Zimbabwe – finishing in the top eight on the Super League table means direct qualification to the World Cup – India qualify for next year’s World Cup automatically by virtue of being the hosts.Updated India squad: KL Rahul (captain) Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar.

West Indies have dropped Shimron Hetmyer from their men’s T20 World Cup squad after he missed a “rescheduled” flight to Australia. CWI said the decision had been taken “unanimously” by the selection panel, which also decided to name Shamarh Brooks as Hetmyer’s replacement.The rest of the West Indies squad had flown to Australia in different groups following the conclusion of the CPL on Saturday. When asked about the situation, the white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran said, “To be honest, that’s not my focus at the moment. A decision has been made, there’s consequences for your action. At the moment just want to focus on why we’re here and how we’re going to achieve our goals.”Hetmyer, who was captain of Guyana Amazon Warriors, was originally set to fly out on October 1, but wanted his flight rescheduled due to personal reasons. CWI booked him on a flight that would leave on Monday, only for Hetmyer to later tell Jimmy Adams, CWI’s director of cricket, that he would not be travelling.Related

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“The decision by the CWI selection panel was made as Shimron Hetmyer missed his re-scheduled flight to Australia, which had been changed from Saturday 1 October at his request, due to family reasons,” CWI said in a media statement. “With flight availability a real challenge, a seat was found for him to leave Guyana today, Monday 3 October, meaning he would unfortunately miss the 1st T20 International (T20I) against Australia on Wednesday 5 October at the Metricon Stadium. This morning, Mr Hetmyer, informed the Director of Cricket that he would not be able to get to the airport in time for his flight this afternoon to New York.”Adams said that Hetmyer had been informed that “any further delay” in travel would cost him his World Cup spot.”This afternoon we informed the CWI board of directors that the selection panel had unanimously decided to replace Shimron Hetmyer with Shamarh Brooks in our T20 World Cup squad,” Adams said. “Whilst we changed Shimron’s flight from Saturday to Monday due to family reasons, it was made clear to him that if there were any further delays and issues with his travel to Australia then we would have no choice but to replace him in the squad, as we are not prepared to compromise the team’s ability to prepare for this extremely important global event.”Pooran admitted that Hetmyer was a big loss. “Obviously, yeah, we plan with him but unfortunately he’s not here and we have to plan differently now.”Brooks will fly out later this week but will not feature in the two-match T20I series against Australia. He will instead join the World Cup squad directly in Melbourne, where they will start their campaign in the qualifying round. West Indies are placed in Group B, alongside Ireland, Scotland and Zimbabwe with the top two teams progressing to the Super 12s.Brooks and Hetmyer were pitted against each other in CPL playoffs last week. It was Brooks’ unbeaten 109 in Qualifier 2 that helped Jamaica Tallawahs make the final, which they went on to win against Barbados Royals.

A team under pressure. A captain refusing to give up. The odds piling up against them. And then one fine day, the stars align.Pakistan cranked up the deja vu in Adelaide on Sunday as they sailed into the T20 World Cup semi-finals. If anyone is still working on time travel, please follow this cricket team. They’ve made it 1992 again.This game wouldn’t even have played out this way if not for Netherlands shocking South Africa. Some people might call that destiny.At the receiving end of this unreal series of events were Bangladesh and Shakib Al Hasan. His wicket turned this game, adjudged lbw on field, and upheld on DRS even though he was absolutely certain he’d nicked the ball.Bangladesh were 70 for 1 after 10 overs. Then they lost their captain and could manage only 127 for 8. Advantage Pakistan.Wasim Akram lite
Shaheen Shah Afridi admitted he’s not 100% at this tournament. Someone should splice that press conference video with the ball he bowled to Mosaddek Hossain. Left-arm. High pace. Around the wicket. Reverse swing. Bowled ‘iiiiimmmmmmm!Growing up, he would have shoved Wasim Akram videos straight into his veins. Now, he’s recreated his idol’s most famous dismissal on the grandest stage with everything on the line. How many people get to do that? How many people are good enough to do that?The good, the bad and the collapse
Najmul Hossain Shanto (54 off 48) was smiling. His leading edge had pretty much bunny-hopped for four over point. That was the first over. Back when Bangladesh had gained a sizeable advantage batting first on a used pitch where shot-making got harder as time went on.Even halfway through, they were sitting pretty. Then it happened.Shadab Khan looped one up over the batter’s eyeline. Shakib accepted the invitation and came charging out of his crease. The legspinner’s dip deceived him. A big hit turned into a scramble to put bat on ball.Shakib thought he did. Umpire Adrian Holdstock on field didn’t. DRS came into play, and everything turned murky. UltraEdge showed a spike, but the third umpire Langton Rusere thought that was bat hitting ground. Only there seemed a fraction of daylight between those two things.The on-field decision was upheld. And Shakib was distraught. He kept standing there, swinging his arms around, wondering what was going on. The Bangladesh captain had to literally be pushed out of the field.That wicket was part of a procession: 6 for 36.Mohammad Haris played a crucial innings of 31 off 18 balls•Associated Press

Another expensive no-ball
The Adelaide pitch wasn’t great for strokeplay. Batters kept trying to hit out but it just wasn’t happening. On the broadcast, a telling stat came up: the strike rate when pace was on was 122, but it was only 28 when pace was off.That kept Bangladesh in it. That’s the reason this game was even alive. Remember, earlier in the day, on this very surface, South Africa came undone against Netherlands’ slower balls to turn this into a quarter-final.Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan put on their first fifty partnership of this T20 World Cup. But Bangladesh fought back.They were an angry team. A team raging against the way the world was working. At one point, when an lbw didn’t go Bangladesh’s way, Shakib grabbed his cap and flung it into the turf. They could easily have been distracted by these things but they kept at it.They pushed this game into the death – and then unravelled.Taskin Ahmed, who could have had a wicket in his first over if not for a bad fumble from the wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan, who has carried his team on his back in these Super 12s, overstepped.The equation was 30 off 28. They had taken a wicket five balls ago. The pressure was piling on Pakistan.Then – much like in that game against India – a team that desperately needed a free-hit got one. And 21-year old Mohammad Haris whacked it for six.Pakistan are into the knockouts now. They even returned the favour to Netherlands, giving them a great chance of finishing fourth in Group 2 which ensures they will play the next T20 World Cup.Now, if India beat Zimbabwe in the last group game on Sunday, Pakistan will travel to Sydney, where once again conditions have been very helpful to slow bowling. Conditions that could favour Babar and his men if they go up against New Zealand in the first semi-final.

David Warner has given up his attempts at having his lifetime leadership ban overturned and launched a scathing attack on the process, claiming the independent panel put in place to review the sanction wanted to put him through a “public lynching”.In lengthy social-media posts that went up shortly before 6pm on the eve of the Adelaide Test, Warner alleged that the counsel assisting the review panel, which is independent of Cricket Australia, had made “offensive” comments during the process.Related

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When CA ratified the amendment to their code of conduct, which allowed Warner to appeal his leadership ban, they confirmed it was not an appeal against the initial decision or a review of the original offence – the role he played during the Newlands ball-tampering saga in 2018.”In effect, Counsel Assisting, and, it appears, to some extent the Review Panel, want to conduct a public trial of me and what occurred during the Third Test at Newlands,” Warner wrote. “They want to conduct a public spectacle to, in the Panel’s words, have a “cleansing”. I am not prepared for my family to be the washing machine for cricket’s dirty laundry.”Counsel Assisting the Review Panel appeared to be determined to revisit the events of March 2018 and the Review Panel appears determined to expose me and my family to further humiliation and harm by conducting a media circus.”Regrettably, I have no practical alternative at this point in time but to withdraw my application. I am not prepared to subject my family or my teammates to further trauma and disruption by accepting a departure from the way in which my application should be dealt with pursuant to the Code of Conduct.”Some things are more important than cricket.”As part of the statement that extended beyond 700 words, Warner added that the counsel assisting’s role had been terminated and that CA had supported him in challenging the approach the review panel had taken, but that after a week they had “decided to ignore the request in any meaningful way””It appears that the Panel has given no more than passing consideration to issues of player welfare and the interests of Australian cricket and is instead determined to conduct a public lynching,” he wrote.Warner also spelt out the impact the last four years have had on him and his family and the efforts he has made to rehabilitate himself.”Since that Test and even though my ban from leadership roles may never be lifted, I have taken it upon myself to reform, to rehabilitate and to transform my approach to the game,” he wrote. “I have served and been subject to a crushing, unprecedented, penalty that has horribly impacted me and my family for the past nearly five years.”A Cricket Australia spokesperson confirmed that they supported Warner’s bid to have the hearing in private.”We are disappointed with this outcome as our intention was to give David the opportunity to demonstrate why his lifetime leadership ban should be varied at an independent hearing and we amended our Code of Conduct accordingly,” a statement said.”We supported David’s wish for these discussions to be heard behind closed doors and respect his decision to withdraw his application. David is a very senior and highly regarded member of the Australian team who has been a great ambassador for the game as a whole since his return from a year-long ban.”Although it was far from certain that Warner would have had the opportunity to captain again if his ban had been overturned he had been discussed as a short-term option for Australia’s T20 side heading into the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Let no one influence you into believing this was a choke.Truth be told, this was a game of high-intensity cricket, fitting of a grand finale. The pressure was immense, and Australia, more skilled and adept at handling big-match temperament – this was their seventh straight final – came up triumphs to clinch their sixth T20 World Cup title and their third in a row.If anyone needed more validation that this is the best women’s cricket team in the planet, it couldn’t have been delivered at a bigger stage. Australia made 156 seem like 180, before their bowlers stood tall on the face of a late assault from Laura Wolvaardt that threatened to take the game away.South Africa needed 59 off 30 balls, with Wolvaardt pumping a packed Newlands crowd with some of the most aesthetically-pleasing shots. Then, much to their agony, she swiped across the line to a full delivery from Megan Schutt and was trapped lbw. South African hearts sank, a teary Wolvaardt trudged off slowly, and boisterous applause gave way to stunned silence.Australia believed and Australia delivered.For South Africa, it was a case of being so near, yet so far. However, even in defeat, Sune Luus & co had done what no other South African senior team – men or women – had done: compete in a world final. This was as bittersweet as it could get.

Dangerous Healy falls early

Four overs in, this seemed a proper arm-wrestle with neither side catching the game by the scruff of its neck. The first signs of drama, that wouldn’t abate for the rest of the evening, came in the fifth over when Alyssa Healy bludgeoned a boundary down the ground, and then saw Marizanne Kapp roar with her wicket to finish the over. That wicket – brought about by spongy bounce that had Healy slicing an attempted cut to cover – laid down a marker: that hit-the-deck stuff was going to be harder to hit than fuller deliveries. Shabnim Ismail then closed off the first six overs with a maiden to have Australia 36 for 1, their slowest powerplay of the tournament.Marizanne Kapp dismissed Alyssa Healy•ICC/Getty Images

Ashleigh Gardner revs up

Sent in ahead of Meg Lanning, Ashleigh Gardner offset any pressure there may have been on Australia with a fierce counterattack. Two back-to-back fours off left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba were followed by back-to-back sixes off Nadine de Klerk, shots that were possible courtesy outstanding footwork and a solid hitting base that allowed her to get underneath proper length deliveries. The attack put the pressure right back on South Africa. And just when Australia were beginning to exert their dominance, Chloe Tryon deceived Gardner in flight to have her caught at long-off for a rampaging 21-ball 29. At 82 for 2 in the 12th, Australia were still in control.

Mooney keeps calm, bats through

It didn’t take long for Beth Mooney to recalibrate her approach. This wasn’t a surface where she could fearlessly belt the ball. Manufacturing shots wasn’t easy due to the slowness; this was the same deck on which both semi-finals were played. But she quietly slipped into the role of an accumulator, allowing the others to take charge, without allowing dot-ball pressure to creep up. As her innings progressed, Mooney manipulated the fields expertly. Traps set for the scoop at short fine leg were just traps, as Mooney reverse-scooped over vacant short third in picking crucial boundaries to ensure Australia didn’t lose momentum.Ellyse Perry, Grace Harris and Lanning fed off this confidence, knowing they had insurance in the form of Mooney, to play their shots. While Ismail returned to pick up two wickets in the final over and concede just two off her last four deliveries, Australia had put up a formidable score. Mooney finished with an unbeaten 53-ball 74, her second straight half-century in a world tournament final.

South Africa’s slow powerplay

South Africa needed a big powerplay to allay some of their nerves that had been a constant feature, and understandably so, right through the game. They limped to 22 for the loss of Tazmin Brits in the powerplay, and allowed stage fright to gnaw at them slowly. It was a bizarre passage too. South Africa had an lbw reprieve, and there were mis-hits, tight bowling and uncharacteristic misfields. The asking rate jumped past 10 and the heat was on.Chloe Tryon celebrates with the crowd after taking a low-catch to remove Meg Lanning•AFP/Getty Images

The run-out that shouldn’t have been

Boundaries had been a rarity in the first six overs, but Wolvaardt’s first two were delightful. The hit down the ground off Darcie Brown as she erred on the fuller side was an on-drive out of the top drawer, as was her skip down the pitch while moving leg side of the ball to wallop an inside-out six off Jess Jonassen. But just when South Africa appeared to be wresting back some momentum, they lost Kapp to a slog and Luus to a run-out, with both her and Wolvaardt nearly stranded at the bowler’s end. At 54 for 3 in the 11th over, their target seemed many moons away.

South Africa believe through Wolvaardt

Wolvaardt had to now put behind her the run out gaffe, and she did so admirably. Without playing a shot in anger, she kept reeling off boundaries, brought up her half-century off 43 balls with one of the most pleasing cover drives, and brought South Africa to within 59 runs of victory with 30 balls left. In Tryon, she had a batter who could bash the ball. The pair put together 55 in 37 balls to keep South Africa’s hopes alive, before they both fell in successive overs to all but extinguish their hopes.

Will Sutherland, the Victoria fast bowler, faces “a period on the sidelines” after scans confirmed a stress fracture in his lower back. Sutherland, 23, had a breakout Sheffield Shield season, and had signed up with Essex for the County Championship season, but that deal has been cancelled.”It’s disappointing for Will after a fantastic season. He had signed with Essex to go over and play in the County Championship – but this news will keep him at home and working on his rest and rehabilitation programme for the next few months,” Cricket Victoria’s head of male cricket, David Hussey, said in a statement.”He has put his name up in lights with some big performances through the summer and we want him to be ready for next season, so we’ll do everything we can to support him with his injury rehabilitation.”Related

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On the Essex website, head coach Anthony McGrath said, “It’s really unfortunate that Will has injured himself so close to the 2023 season. We were all looking forward to welcoming him to Chelmsford and we’re sorry to hear he will face a period of time recovering from his stress fracture.”Everyone at the club wishes Will a speedy recovery and we hope to see him back on the pitch soon.”Sutherland topped the Sheffield Shield wicket-takers’ table with 41 wickets in Victoria’s run to the final, which they lost to Western Australia. He’d also stood in as captain during the course of the season.In the final, Sutherland played through pain and put in a big performance, returning 5 for 75 in the first Western Australia innings, and then scoring 83 in 84 balls after Victoria had fallen behind top set a 91-run target, which was easily overhauled.

The ICC is considering a change to the existing two-ball rule in its ODI playing conditions in a bid to restore some balance between bat and ball in the format. A recommendation was made at the ICC meetings in Harare this week to use only one ball from the 35th over of an innings.The recommendation was made by the ICC men’s cricket committee, headed by Sourav Ganguly, to board chief executives. Each innings will start with two new balls, as is the case now. But in the new recommendation, the fielding side will be allowed to select which ball they wish to carry on with after the 34th over, when both balls are 17 overs old. The ball that is not chosen will then be kept as the spare ball in case it is needed.The cricket committee had considered making the ball change earlier, after 25 overs. But ESPNcricinfo understands that did not find much favour within the committee, which felt using the balls for 17 overs before deciding which to continues with was more appropriate. Boards are expected to give their feedback on the tweak by the end of this month. If there is consensus, it will be formalised in the playing conditions most likely at the ICC’s annual general meeting in July. Because it is a playing-condition change, it will not need approval by the ICC’s board.Related

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The current rule was brought in by the ICC in October 2011, having been in place at various points in the past – including, most prominently, at the 1992 World Cup. For a few years until 2011, ODI playing conditions called for a mandatory ball change after the 34th over of an innings, when it would be replaced by a similarly used ball but one that was cleaner and easier to see (the rationale being that white balls were becoming increasingly difficult to spot for batters).

A 60-second stop clock in Test cricket too?

Boards will also consider, and provide feedback on, the implementation of a 60-second stop clock in Test cricket. That regulation, to combat slow over-rates, has been in place in T20Is and ODIs since last year, where teams running behind time are penalised in various ways, including by bringing one extra fielder within the 30-yard circle.There was also discussion in the committee about switching the Under-19 men’s World Cup, currently played in the 50-over format, to T20s. There was no clear consensus around that, however, with no great support. Such a change would, in any case, require formal approval by the ICC board.Members of the committee also discussed a bonus-points reward in the World Test Championship, though the prevalent view around that was it would be too complicated to implement.

Steven Smith has said that Ishant Sharma’s absence for the Test series in Australia will be a “big loss” for India, but also conceded that David Warner missing at least the opening match in Adelaide will be a challenge for the home side’s depth.There could be a vulnerability at the top of the Australia order for the India bowlers to exploit with Warner out of Adelaide due to his groin injury, Joe Burns struggling for form and uncertainty over who the opening pair will be after Will Pucovski suffered concussion from a blow to the helmet against the Indians in the first tour match.One of the more unlikely routes Australia could take to plug the gap would be to promote Marcus Labuschagne to open, which could also create a route for in-form allrounder Cameron Green in the middle order, and Smith backed Labuschagne to fill the role if needed.”I think our depth is obviously going to be tested with Davey out and a few potentially new players coming in,” Smith said. “It’ll test us out no doubt against a good Indian outfit. We know how good they are at Test cricket. They beat us out here last time and they’re a very good side.””When you bat at No. 3 you are sometimes in second ball of the game, that’s the reality of batting there so, someone at three could certainly go up the top.”Ishant, who took 11 wickets at 23.81 on the previous tour to Australia, was ruled out of the series late last month following the abdominal injury he picked up at the IPL. Though he has recovered, the problem was getting him ready for the demands of Test cricket and also the difficulties presented by the need for two weeks quarantine on arrival in Australia.India will still be able to field Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, who were both central figures in their 2018-19 series victory, with Umesh Yadav shaping as the likely third quick following a strong outing against Australia A at Drummoyne Oval. Bumrah and Shami are set to play their first game of first-class cricket since the beginning of March in the day-night warm-up match against Australia A from Friday.Asked whether this could be considered India’s strongest-ever attack, Smith singled out the absence of Ishant. “They’re experienced now, particularly Shami and Bumrah,” he said. “Ishant Sharma is probably a big loss for them…he’s played a lot of cricket now and is a good bowler. Without him it may not be their strongest because I’m sure they’d like him to play, no doubt.”Shami’s played a lot of cricket, Bumrah’s played a reasonable amount of cricket and is a quality bowler. Whichever spinner they use – Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep – we’ll wait and see there but they’ve all played a fair bit of cricket now. They’re all good bowlers and we’re going to have to be at our best if we’re going to beat them.”Smith was not part of the 2018-19 series as he served his ban for the Newlands ball-tampering episode and this series will be the first time he has faced Bumrah in long-form cricket. In white-ball internationals he has faced Bumrah on 14 occasions, and been dismissed by him just one, and at the IPL they have come against each other 10 times with Bumrah removing Smith on three occasions.”His skillsets won’t change too much,” Smith said. “We know how he bowls, he’s got good pace, he’s got that awkward action, very different to a lot of people so you’ve got to be pretty watchful all the time and he’s a quality bowler, I’m excited to be coming up against him in this series. You like to be coming up against the best and he’s certainly up there with them.”Smith admitted he found it tough to follow the series two summers ago as he served his time away from the game. “I watched bits and pieces. It was difficult with sitting on the sidelines and not being able to go out there and make a difference, that was the toughest thing to me knowing I probably could make a difference if I was out there. That was hard, but it’s an exciting series coming up.”

Sri Lanka seamer Kasun Rajitha has joined Essex on a five-match deal for the Rothesay County Championship.The right-armer has 18 Test caps, with 55 wickets at 29.58, and returned a career-best 5 for 56 in the last of those appearances, in March 2024 against Bangladesh. A tall quick, measuring in at close to 6ft 4in, Rajitha is set to feature in the squad for Essex’s third County Championship match against Worcestershire which begins on Friday at Chelmsford.The move will see Rajitha reunited with Chris Silverwood, who had a spell as Sri Lanka head coach from 2022 to 2024. Now director of cricket at Essex, Silverwood regards the 31-year-old’s skill and experience as a vital addition to an already strong pace attack. His arrival will help compensate for the loss of Shardul Thakur, after the India international won a late call-up to the IPL.”We are delighted to welcome Kasun to Essex and very much look forward to watching him perform in the County Championship,” said Silverwood. “I know his experience and skill set will certainly help strengthen our already superb bowling attack.”Kasun Rajitha has two five-wicket hauls in Tests•AFP/Getty Images

In a statement released by Essex, Rajitha added: “It is a really proud moment for me to be joining Essex. I have followed the team over the years, and they have always produced excellent and entertaining first-class cricket.”I am joining a strong bowling unit and look forward to contributing on the field and helping the team win matches. I would like to thank Chris Silverwood for giving me this opportunity and Sri Lanka Cricket for allowing me to further hone my skills.”The acquisition of Rajitha could mean rotation is on the cards for Essex’s three-pronged seam attack, with Sam Cook the likeliest to sit out the next round ahead of a possible appearance in England’s first Test of the summer against Zimbabwe, which begins on May 22 at Trent Bridge. Cook, uncapped, has already bowled 75 overs across four innings so far, with seven dismissals at 28.42.

Spinner Varun Chakravarthy strengthened his case for selection in India’s ODI squad by taking his second five-wicket haul in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but his performance could not prevent Rajasthan from eliminating Tamil Nadu in the pre-quarterfinal stage of the tournament.While Varun finished as the top wicket-taker with 18 scalps in six matches, the knockout game’s defining performance came from Rajasthan opener Abhijeet Tomar, whose 111 in the first innings set the foundation for a 19-run victory. They will play Vidarbha in the quarterfinal on January 12.Rajasthan were on course for 300-plus after losing the toss, cruising at 182 for 1 in the 32nd over when Varun took three wickets in three overs to trigger a slide. He first bowled Mahipal Lomror for 60 with a wrong’un that drifted in, pitched and squared the left-hander to hit the top of off stump.Having broken the 160-run stand between Tomar and Lomror, Varun then bowled Deepak Hooda with a carrom ball as he attempted a mow towards the leg side. His third wicket was the centurion Tomar, holing out to long-on for 111 off 125 balls. He picked up two more wickets to finish with 5 for 52 in nine overs.Rajasthan lost nine wickets for 83 and were all out for 267 in 47.3 overs. Left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore and seamer Sandeep Warrier picked up two wickets each.Tamil Nadu responded with a rapid opening partnership of 60 in 6.5 overs before Khaleel Ahmed bowled the slower opener Tushar Raheja for 11 of 20 balls. N Jagadeesan raced to a half-century, hitting Aman Shekhawat for six fours in an over that included five wides to cost Rajasthan 29 runs. His dismissal for 65 off 52 balls, however, caused panic in Tamil Nadu’s chase.B Indrajith and Vijay Shankar kept the innings going and at the start of the 36th over, Tamil Nadu needed 83 runs with five wickets in hand. The run-out of S Mohammed Ali for a run-a-ball 34, however, swung the game Rajasthan’s way.Shekhawat, the fast bowler who had Indrajith caught behind, bowled Vijay Shankar for 49, and sealed the game by dismissing Varun for 18 in a close finish. He finished with 3 for 60 as Rajasthan, runners-up of the previous Vijay Hazare Trophy, entered the final eight by bowling Tamil Nadu out for 248 in 47.1 overs.