New DelhiIn the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025/26 final, Vidarbha easily defeated Saurashtra by 38 runs thanks to a brilliant century from Atharva Taide, securing their first-ever Vijay Hazare Trophy title on Sunday.
Vidarbha scored an impressive 317/8 in their 50 overs while Taide hammered a brilliant 128 off 118 balls with 15 fours and three sixes. Despite a valiant chase, Saurashtra was bowled out for 279 in 48.5 overs in response.
Early on in the chase, Saurashtra fell to 30 for two, a situation that deteriorated to 112 for four in 22.4 overs. Prerak Mankad and Chirag Jani put up a potent fifth-wicket partnership, demonstrating their tenacity.
Playing percentage cricket instead of flamboyance, Mankad (88 off 92 balls) and Jani (64 off 63) added 93 runs while batting sensibly. Saurashtra managed to stay in the hunt for a longer period of time than anticipated thanks to a few dropped catches and multiple misfields in the middle overs. Jani survived on 14 after being dropped off Parth Rekhade at long-on, while Mankad was saved on 70 after being dismissed by Harsh Dubey at mid-wicket.
When Mankad misjudged a cut against left-arm spinner Dubey and was trapped lbw, the resistance came to an end. Jani was soon removed by Darshan Nalkande, and Aman Mokhade at sweeper cover safely caught Jani's mishandled swipe. After that, Yash Thakur (4/50) and Nachiket Bhute (3/46) cleaned up the tail to give Vidarbha a historic victory.
Taide had earlier used a model one-day knock to anchor Vidarbha's innings. As the shadows grew longer at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, the left-hander batted confidently, taking advantage of gaps and rotating strike effectively despite lacking flamboyance. Even when Chetan Sakariya and others tightened their lines, he was rarely tied down thanks to his ability to collect singles and twos, even though there were graceful cover drives and strong hits over mid-wicket.
Taide scored his next fifty runs in just thirty-one deliveries after reaching his fifty off sixty-six balls. He achieved his third List A century. In just eighteen overs, he and Yash Rathod shared a quick 133-run second-wicket partnership (54 off 61 balls), keeping Vidarbha's scoring rate above six runs per over. Taide and Aman Mokhade (33) had previously shared an opening partnership of 80 runs.
When Taide left, Vidarbha was well-positioned at 213 for two. Despite the middle and lower order's meager contributions, they were sufficient to raise the total above 300, which ultimately proved to be decisive and paved the way for Vidarbha's historic title victory.