Vidarbha continue domestic dominance with Cooch Behar title

Vidarbha's fine run in the domestic circuit continued as the junior team emulated their Ranji Trophy-winning compatriots to lift the Cooch Behar Trophy under-19 tournament in Nagpur. Opener Atharva Taide, who has represented India under-19, smashed 320 to ensure his team batted only once against Madhya Pradesh and take the first-innings lead in the final. After Vidarbha restricted Madhya Pradesh to 289 in the first innings, their batting was powered by Taide's 483-ball effort, which included 34 fours and a six, as they racked up a total of 614. They secured a lead of 325 runs before the bowlers took over once again in the second innings.

Madhya Pradesh's major contributions came from opener Suraj Vashisht, who made 75 off 138 including eight fours and four sixes, and Yash Dubey (55). Vashisht first put on 71 runs for the second wicket with Sanket Shrivastava (29) before adding 41 with Dubey. From 142 for 2, Madhya Pradesh lost their way to slip to 218 for 6. They were, however, rescued by wicketkeeper Rahul Chandrol's 99-ball 52, who took their total close to 300. Seamer Darshan Nalkande, who turned out for India under-19 last year, picked up four wickets, while YR Thakur and PR Rekhade took three wickets each.

While Taide's innings was the centrepiece of Vidarbha's innings, there were two other substantial contributions. Opener AM Kumar scored 55, while middle-order batsman NR Chavan scored 107, including 10 fours and a six. Their innings lasted 183.4 overs. Madhya Pradesh captain Rishabh Chouhan picked up four wickets. Mohd Saad Baggad finished with figures of 3 for 139. Faced with a massive deficit, Madhya Pradesh almost crumbled to an innings defeat, but Shrivastava (71*) and Dubey (67) helped them finish on 176 for 7. Rekhade was once again among the wickets for Vidarbha, as he took 3 for 48.

Vidarbha had finished second in Group D in the league stage with three wins and three draws. They had then registered a nine-wicket win over Karnataka in the quarter-finals before securing the first-innings advantage against Punjab in the semi-finals.