Taides timely ton sets up Vidarbhas maiden Hazare Trophy triumph

Vidarbha produced a nerveless performance to beat Saurashtra by 38 runs and win its maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, near here, on Sunday.

After Atharva Taide (128, 118b, 15×4, 3×6) helped set up a target of 318, Harvik Desai’s Saurashtra could only reach 279 as Vidarbha came up with an excellent bowling effort to disprove the accepted maxim that chasing teams invariably won.

If not for a 93-run fifth-wicket stand between Prerak Mankad (88, 92b, 10×4) and Chirag Jani (64, 63b, 3×4, 2×6), Vidarbha’s margin of victory might have been more comprehensive.

Both Prerak and Jani were let off once, the former on 70 and the latter on 14. But it was captain and left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey who emerged as the man with the golden arm, trapping the dangerous-looking Prerak leg-before on the backfoot.

Jani’s dismissal, with 68 runs needed in less than six overs, brought the defending Ranji Trophy champion closer to the coveted white-ball trophy.

It was not long before Chetan Sakariya was excised by speedster Yash Thakur (four for 50) to earn Vidarbha the triumph that more than made up for the disappointing loss to Karnataka in last year’s final.

Earlier, after being asked to bat, the Vidarbha openers were mostly steady. There were a few top-edges and inside-edges, giving rise to a few nervous moments. However, Dubey & Co. banished those jitters with some clean and crisp hitting from time to time.

Aman Mokhade did not score big, falling for 33 (45b, 4×4) to finish his season with 814 chart-topping runs. But Vidarbha had a new hero in Taide, who conjured his first century of the tournament in the all-important contest.

That he scored the most against this season’s highest wicket-taker Ankur Panwar (31 from 18 balls) was a good indicator of the quality of his innings. The pick-up shots off pacer Sakariya, and the rousing pulled sixes off Dharmendra Jadeja and Prerak, showcased his overall mastery.

Vidarbha stood at a dominant 213 for one when he scooped a low full-toss from Panwar to Prerak at mid-on. Though the outfit wobbled from there, losing wickets at regular intervals, Darshan Nalkande hit 13 of the 16 runs that came off the final over to take his team to 317 for eight. It was a cushion that eventually proved handy.

The scores: Vidarbha 317/8 in 50 overs (Atharva Taide 128, Yash Rathod 54, Ankur Panwar 4/65) bt Saurashtra 279 in 48.5 overs (Prerak Mankad 88, Chirag Jani 64, Yash Thakur 4/50).

Toss: Saurashtra; PoM: Taide; PoS: Mokhade.