Vidarbha need to defend 317 runs to win their maiden VHT title.
Former Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batter Atharva Taide has scored an excellent hundred in the ongoing Vidarbha vs Saurashtra Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 final.
The opener looked in sublime touch throughout his innings during the summit clash. His brilliant 128 runs off 118 balls displayed a composed knock in the high-stakes fixture. The innings was laced with a total of 15 boundaries and three sixes, striking at 108.47.
Except for Yash Rathod, no other Vidarbha batter could complement the magnificent contribution from Taide. The tournament’s highest run-scorer and the last fixture’s centurion, Aman Mokhade, managed only 33 runs in the Vidarbha vs Saurashtra VHT 2025-26 final.
However, coming in at No.3, Rathod put up only the second half-century of the line-up. His gritty 54 off 61 deliveries, followed by a brisk six-ball 14* from pacer Darshan Nalkande, fuelled Vidarbha’s total to a huge 317/8.
After a solid show in the first half, Vidarbha would rely on their bowlers to finish the job well to clinch their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy silverware. The side would hope for another match-winning performance from Nalkande, who had snared an electrifying fifer in the semi-final clash facing Karnataka. Previously, they had lost last season’s final by 36 runs against the same opposition.
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Following his release from the SRH squad, the batter failed to attract the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises’ attention in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025. Taide endured an average campaign in the domestic T20 tournament, putting up only 180 runs in seven matches, including two fifty-plus knocks, at a strike rate of 142.85.
But the 25-year-old made a remarkable comeback in the subsequent event. In seven fixtures of the VHT 2025-26, the southpaw amassed 396 runs, comprising three sixty-plus scores and a big-match hundred. Notably, the Vidarbha opener had featured in nine matches for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) across two seasons since the IPL 2023. Last year, the batter scored only 13 runs in his solitary appearance for the Hyderabad outfit.
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