
Courtesy: Google
On Saturday, January 18, in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2024-25, Karnataka defeated Vidarbha by 36 runs, to lift the coveted title for the fifth time in their history. In the grand finale, Karnataka posted a formidable total of 348/6 on the board with a hundred from Ravichandran Smaran before their bowlers delivered an impressive performance as a collective unit, to help bowl out Vidarbha for 312 runs despite the hundred from Dhruv Shorey and late blitz from Harsh Dubey.
At the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara, after winning the toss, Vidarbha captain Karun Nair, formerly a Karnataka star, decided to field first against the team from his own state. After Karnataka lost the key wickets of captain Mayank Agarwal and his fellow opening partner Devdutt Padikkal within the first 15 overs, the pressure was well and truly on the team to put up a competitive score on the board.
Krishnan Shrijith, who joined Ravichandran Smaran in the middle in the 15th over, put together a vital partnership of 160 runs for the fourth wicket, to bring Karnataka firmly back into the contest. After scoring 78 runs in 74 balls with nine fours and one maximum, Krishnan Shrijith lost his wicket, but it led to the arrival of Abhinav Manohar at the crease, who smashed the Vidarbha bowlers to all parts of the ground, reaching 79 runs in just 42 balls with 10 fours and four maximums, to help his team get past 300 runs.
Ravichandran Smaran brought up his hundred in 89 balls before getting dismissed for 101 runs in 92 balls, hitting seven fours and three maximums in the innings for Karnataka before his dismissal in the penultimate over. In pursuit of the 349-run target, Vidarbha kept losing wickets at regular intervals, including their captain Karun Nair, who scored 779 runs in the VHT 2024-25 at an astonishing average of 389.50 in eight innings, but Dhruv Shorey kept their innings together at the other end.
Ultimately, at the start of the third and final power play of the Vidarbha innings, Dhruv Shorey was dismissed on 110 runs in 111 balls with eight fours and two maximums, and his team still needing a further 126 runs in 58 balls with four wickets in hand. Harsh Dubey, who walked at the crease at number eight in the batting order at the Kotambi Stadium, went on a boundary hitting spree, scoring 63 off 30 with five fours and five maximums, but his dismissal led to Vidarbha getting bowled out for 312 runs in 48.2 overs.
Prasidh Krishna, Vasuki Koushik, and Abhilash Shetty took three wickets each for Karnataka during Karnataka’s bowling effort, to ensure their team won the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2024-25 final against Vidarbha in Vadodara.