Vidarbha's R Samarth and Harsh Dubey.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bengaluru: In Indian domestic cricket, Vidarbha is the quintessential “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. They aren’t blessed with natural superstars, often relying on strong teamwork to get the job done. It was the case again in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final against Saurashtra on Sunday as they produced a collective performance to win the elusive national one-day title.
The reigning Ranji Trophy champions, who lost to Karnataka in the final exactly a year ago in Vadodara, seemed fired up from the word go here at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence. First, they rode on a brilliantly constructed 128 off 118 balls from opener Atharva Taide and a fine 54 off 61 balls from Yash Rathod to post a competitive 317/8 in 50 overs.
With both Vidarbha and Saurashtra cruising home in chases in the semifinals, the former knew the total was nothing but just above par. But Vidarbha were game for it, the pace trio of Yash Thakur (4/50), Nachiket Bhute (3/46) and Darshan Nalkande (2/52) dishing out a strong show to dismiss a fighting Saurashtra for 279 in 48.5 overs for a 38-run triumph.
Vidarbha openers Taide and Aman Mokhade laid the foundation for a 300-plus with a fine 80-run stand where they nicely alternated between caution and aggression. Saurashtra’s pacers Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya (2/45) were right on the money at the start, keeping the lines and lengths tight without offering any freebies. If Taide and Mokhade wished to score boundaries, then they had to take risks.
The openers did well but gambled on them nicely, playing the big shots only when the ball was in and around the hitting zone. There were a few inside and outside edges, but luckily for them, nothing cost their wicket. Saurashtra were getting annoyed, but they didn’t let it affect them, the bowlers continuing to dish out disciplined stuff.
A wicket was coming, and Mokhade departed in the 18th over after chopping one onto the stumps. However, Taide and Yash Rathod (54) ensured Saurashtra didn’t capitalise on it completely with a fighting 133-run stand. Taide was the aggressor in the partnership, playing some gorgeous lofted shots to keep the run-rate going steadily at a little over 6 runs an over.
After reaching his century for the first time this VHT, Taide started to take a lot more risks, which ultimately saw him depart in the 36th over. With impetus being on quick runs, Vidarbha’s middle and lower batters went for big shots and ended up losing wickets at regular intervals, which somewhat derailed their momentum.
Vidarbha pacers Thakur and Bhute came out with a purpose, stifling Saurashtra’s openers Harvik Desai and Vishvaraj Jadeja, the hero of the semifinal. Both of them departed with 30 on the board, and at the halfway stage, Saurashtra were 124/4. Saurashtra, despite being given several lifelines thereafter through butter-fingered Vidarbha fielders, couldn’t recover enough.
Brief scores: Vidarbha: 317/8 in 50 overs (Atharva Taide 128, Aman Mokhade 33, Yash Rathod 54, R Samarth 25; Chetan Sakariya 2-45, Chirag Jani 2-65, Ankur Panwar 4-65) bt Saurashtra: (Prerak Mankad 88, Sammar Gajjar 25, Chirag Jani 64; Yash Thakur 4-50, Nachiket Bhute 3-46, Darshan Nalkande 2-52) by 38 runs.