Vidarbha Clinches Maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy Title, Thanks to Taide's 128

Atharva Taide's brilliant century (128) and a disciplined bowling effort led Vidarbha to their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy title, defeating Saurashtra by 38 runs. Taide's innings included 15 fours and 3 sixes, and he shared a 133-run partnership with Yash Rathod (54). Saurashtra's Prerak Mankad (88) and Chirag Jani (64) put up a fight, but Vidarbha's bowlers, led by Yash Thakur (4/50) and Nachiket Bhute (3/46), sealed the win. Saurashtra backed themselves to take the chase deep after losing Vishwaraj Jadeja, fresh off an unbeaten 165, and Harvik Desai, early. They didn't seem too perturbed at having to score 127 runs off the last 15 overs with six wickets in hand. But Harsh Dubey, Vidarbha's captain, cracked the game open by trapping Prerak Mankad lbw for 88 in the 38th over. When he brought up three figures, Taide celebrated animatedly. It was his third List A century, and his first since hitting 164* against Andhra in 2021. His second fifty took just 31 deliveries. Vidarbha's batting was indeed impressive, especially given the absence of key player Dhruv Shorey due to back spasms. Aman Mokhade and Atharva Taide started strong, putting up an 80-run opening stand. Mokhade's 33 was followed by Taide's brilliant century, scoring 128 runs off 118 balls. This partnership helped Vidarbha post a strong total of 317/8, ultimately contributing to their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy title win. Vidarbha 317 for 8 (Taide 128, Rathod 54, Panwar 4-65) beat Saurashtra 279 (Mankad 88, Thakur 4-50, Bhute 3-46) by 38 runs