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Vidarbha rode on a brilliant ton from opener Atharva Taide and pacer Yash Thakur's bowling heroics to beat Saurashtra by 38 runs to win the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 title. After Taide's brilliant 128 powered Vidarbha to a strong total of 317 runs, batting first in the final, Thakur's magnificent four-wicket haul helped them successfully defend the target in the summit clash at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Vidarbha produced a fine all-round performance in the final to clinch their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy title under skipper Harsh Dubey, denying Saurashtra their third trophy. Put into bat first, Taide led the charge with a phenomenal ton. He opened the batting with in-form Aman Mokhade, and the duo got Vidarbha off to a solid start with an 80-run stand for the first wicket.
Mokhade, who finished the tournament as the highest run-getter with 781 runs, was dismissed on 33 off 45 balls after a good start. However, Taide continued his onslaught on the other end and went on to notch up his maiden ton in VHT 2025-26 off 97 balls. He shared a formidable 133-run stand for the second wicket with Yash Rathod, who contributed with a valuable 54-run knock.
Taide finished with 128 off 118 balls, which was laced with 15 fours and three sixes, stepping up for his team on the big stage in the final. Thanks to his heroic ton and vital contributions from Mokhade (33) and Rathod (54), Vidarbha managed to go past the 300-run mark to post a strong total of 317/8 in 50 overs in the all-important final.
Vidarbha bowlers stole the show in the final with an impressive display as a unit to stop Saurashtra from chasing down the target of 318 runs. Harsh Dubey was the pick of the bowlers with a four-wicket haul, and he was well supported by the pace duo of Nachiket Bhute and Darshan Nalkande.
The trio combined to rip through Saurashtra's top order to provide Vidarbha with a strong start with the ball during the chase. Bhute drew the first blood by dismissing Saurashtra opener Harvik Desai on 20, before Thakur got rid of the in-form Vishvaraj Jadeja cheaply on 9 in quick succession.
Nalkande joined the party with the wicket of no.4 Sammar Gajjar (25) in the 17th over to leave Saurashtra reeling at 78/3 in the tricky chase. Prerak Mankad scored a fighting 88, while Chirag Jani slammed a gutsy 64 to keep their side in the game. However, the Vidarbha bowlers kept striking at regular intervals to bundle out the opposition for 279 runs.
After dismissing the in-form Vishvaraj, Thakur ran through Saurashtra's lower middle order with the wickets of Ruchit Ahir, Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya to finish with figures of 4/50 off his 9.5 overs and secure a commanding victory for his side in the final. Bhute finished with excellent figures of 3/46, while Nalkande picked up two wickets.
