NAGPUR’S sportspersons wished the citizens a Happy Diwali in their own way as Vidarbha Under-19 team won their second Vinoo Mankad Trophy by defeating Punjab in the all important final at Sports Hub International Cricket Stadium in Thiruvanantapuram making it a memorable Sunday on the eve of Deepawali. Put into bat, Vidarbha boys made a competitive 238-7 in 50 overs and then bowled out Punjab for 206 in 47.4 overs for a comfortable 32-run win grabbing their second BCCI title. The first one came in 2018-19 season.

 

For Vidarbha, top-order batsmen Danish Malewar (59; 57b, 2x4, 2x6) and Neel Athaley (52; 87b, 4x4, 1x6) hammered fifties while Tushar Suryavanshi (40; 63b, 6x4) also contributed in trying circumstances to give the team a good score. Punjab’s Aryan Yadav (87) tried his best but did not get support from others. All the six bowlers used by skipper Mohammad Faiz ticked the wickets column. With three wickets Pratham Maheshwari led the attack. He was ably supported by Jagjot Singh Sasan and Dharmendra Thakur who took two wickets apiece while the trio of Rajsingh Chavhan, Ashit Singh and Gaurav Farde chipped in with a wicket apiece.

 

It was Vidarbha’s overall eleventh final across all BCCI tournaments and they have won seven out of those. The seven title wins include — Vijay Merchant Trophy (U-16) in 2016-17; Cooch Behar Trophy (U-19) 2017-18; Vinoo Mankad Trophy (U-19) 2018-19; U-23 One-Dayer (un-named) 2018-19; Ranji Trophy 2017-18 and 2018-19; Col CK Nayudu (U-23/25) 2019-20. Vidarbha have also won Irani Cup twice but it is not considered as a tournament since only two teams are involved (Ranji Trophy champions and Rest of India).