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Vidarbha’s U-14 boys held their nerve to edge out UP by 3 runs and clinch the Raj Singh Dungarpur Trophy in Raipur on Tuesday.
In the three-day final played at the RDCA ground, Vidarbha boys conceded a first innings lead of 43 runs and even though UP had only 75 runs to chase in their second innings, they fell short as Vidarbha bowled them out for 71 in 30.3 overs to grab the trophy.
It was a remarkable come-from-behind triumph for these Vidarbha youngsters making their maiden appearance in the annual Central Zone tournament. However, this is the third time Vidarbha have won this trophy.
The chief architect of victory on the final day was leg-spinner Om Dhotre, who bowled brilliantly to pick up six wickets for 14 runs. Off-spinner Manav Wakode, who had taken 6/23 in the first innings, supported Om by dismissing 2 UP batsmen for 18 runs. Manav, who had match figures of 8/41, finished with 16 wickets in the tournament.
Asked to bat first, Vidarbha made 157 in their first innings with Prashant Gautam (38), Padmakar Nair (37) and Dhruv Pise (33) chipping in with useful scores.
UP fared much better with the bat, scoring 200 81.3 overs with Ansh Mishra (37) and captain Hitesh Kumar (41) leading the charge.
With nothing to lose, Vidarbha went for quick runs in their second innings. However, they kept losing wickets and could muster only 117, thanks mainly to their last pair of Viraj Maheshwari (13) and Devansh Nimbalkar (26 n.o.) who added 40 runs to give their bowlers a fighting chance.
UP batters got into a tangle against Vidarbha’s spin twins and came up short.
BRIEF SCORES: FINAL (Feb. 4-6, 2024)
Vidarbha 1st innings 157 all out in 66.3 overs (Prashant Gautam 38, Padmakar Nair 37, Dhruv Pise 33; Md Amish 3/26, Arush Gupta 2/26, Shaswat Krishna 2/30)
UP 1st innings 200 all out in 81.3 overs (Ansh Mishra 37, Hitesh Kumar 41; Manav Wakode 6/23, Kush Sharma 2/43)
Vidarbha 2nd innings 117 all out in 46.5 overs (Dhruv Pise 20, Devansh Nimbalkar 26 n.o.; Arush Gupta 4/23, Shaswat Krishna 3/34)
UP 2nd innings 71 all out in 30.3 overs (Om Dhotre 6/14, Manav Wakode 2/18)
Result: Vidarbha won by 3 runs
