Atharva Taide scored a century in the finalImage Credit source: Screenshot/Hotstar
Vidarbha’s batsmen did wonders in the knockout matches of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26. In the semi-finals, Aman Mokhade played a brilliant century of 138 runs and took the team to the finals. Although he could not perform against Saurashtra in the final, the batsman took up the responsibility of scoring a century in the title match, for whom playing big innings in the final is becoming a habit. This batsman is Atharva Taide, who scored another century in his second final within about 3 and a half months.
Vidarbha and Saurashtra on Sunday 18 January at BCCI’s Center of Excellence in Bengaluru. Vijay Hazare Trophy Were face to face in the final of. In this match, Vidarbha team came to bat first and the opening pair of Taide-Mokhade gave a strong start. Together they made a partnership of 80 runs, which was broken due to the dismissal of Mokhade. But Taide had taken charge and once again he was ready to play a big innings in the final. This 25 year old batsman also did this.
The biggest innings played for Vidarbha
Left-handed batsman Taide controlled the innings from one end and completed his century by taking one run in the 32nd over. He scored the third century of his List A career in just 97 balls. Even after this his bat lasted for some more time. His innings finally ended in the 36th over but by then he had scored 128 runs in just 118 balls, which included 15 fours and 3 sixes. This was Atharva’s first century in this season. Before this he had scored 2 half-centuries.
He made a partnership of 133 runs with Yash Rathod for the second wicket. On the basis of this innings of Atharva, Vidarbha, batting first, scored a big score of 317 runs after losing 8 wickets in 50 overs. Apart from Atharva, Yash also scored 54 runs in this innings. However, no other player reached half-century.
Century in the second consecutive final
This was not the first time that Atharva Taide’s bat has played in the final. Only 110 days ago, Atharva had scored a century for Vidarbha in a final. On October 1, 2025, Atharva had scored a brilliant century and played an inning of 143 runs in the first innings of the Irani Cup against Rest of India. Vidarbha won that title and Atharva became the player of the match.