Vidarbha lift maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy with Atharva Taide, Yash Rathod & Yash Thakur starring in win over Saurashtra

BENGALURU: Atharva Taide’s previous List A century had come more than four years ago. On Sunday, he chose the perfect stage to end that wait, and along with Yash Rathod (54), laid the foundation for Vidarbha’s maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy triumph.At the BCCI Centre of Excellence here, Vidarbha’s total of 317/8 proved beyond Saurashtra’s reach as the twotime champions were bowled out for 279 in 48.5 overs, handing Vidarbha a memorable 38-run victory in the final. After a shaky start that saw both openers dismissed inside the first seven overs, Saurashtra found hope through a fighting 88 from Prerak Mankad and Chirag Jani’s brisk 63-ball 64 (3x4, 2x6). Their 93-run stand for the fifth wicket threatened to undo Vidarbha’s hard work.Vidarbha, however, sensed the opening in the 38th over when Mankad, attempting a backfoot cut off Yash Dubey, was trapped leg before. The dismissal stalled the scoring rate, and when Jani holed out to Aman Mokhade in the deep while trying to accelerate off Darshan Nalkande, the result became inevitable.Yash Thakur led the bowling effort with four wickets, including the final scalp of Chetan Sakariya, while Nachiket Bhute claimed three, and Nalkande finished with two.Earlier, Saurashtra’s newball pair of Jaydev Unadkat and Sakariya (2/45) kept Vidarbha openers Taide and Mokhade quiet for the first nine overs. Taide broke the shackles with a wristy flick off Sakariya, as the openers then looked to collect a boundary every over, albeit with an element of risk — especially against Ankur Panwar (4/65).Panwar eventually broke the stand and ended Mokhade’s prolific tournament, inducing an edge that the batter chopped on. Mokhade finished the competition as the leading rungetter with 814 runs.With Dhruv Shorey sidelined due to injury, Rathod was promoted up the order and his 133-run partnership off just 112 deliveries with Taide put Saurashtra under sustained pressure and briefly made a total in the region of 330-340 seem achievable. Taide eventually fell after he miscued a flick off Panwar, Prerak Mankad completing the catch at mid-on.SCORES: Vidarbha 317/8 (A Taide 128, Y Rathod 54; A Panwar 4-65) bt Saurashtra 279 in 48.5 overs (P Mankad 88, C Jani 64; Y Thakur 4-50, N Bhute 3-46) by 38 runs