NAGPUR: Frontline batsman Athrava Taide is not leaving any opportunity this season to mesmerize the Vidarbha dugout and IPL talent scout with his elegant strokeplay. Last month, he had shown glimpses of what he is capable of during the Syed Mushtaq Ali semis. The southpaw was once again at it against Andhra on Thursday.
The former India under-19 opener not only cracked a big match-winning ton (164 n.o; 123b, 15x4, 5x6) but also bettered his record as the highest individual score for Vidarbha in Vijay Hazare Trophy. The 21-year-old was instrumental in Vidarbha's second successive victory as they thrashed Andhra by eight wickets at Cricket Club of India (CCI), Mumbai.
Andhra got a decent score on the board after being put into bat but they were humbled by the fluent batwork from Taide that undid all their plans in the second essay. KS Bharat-led side may have sensed an opening when they sent Faiz Fazal (26) packing in the 8th over while defending 288-run target. However, Taide punctured Bharat's hopes with the treatment he consistently meted out to anything short-of-length or even slightly full.
Once Taide, who was Vidarbha's highest run-getter in Mushtaq Ali, started off with a crackling boundary square of the wicket, there was no looking back. The opener was well supported by No.3 Ganesh Satish (43 off 53b) and No.4 Yash Rathod (44 n.o off 48b). He had a 118-run union with Satish. It was followed by another unbeaten partnership of 118 runs with Rathod that took Vidarbha home with 50 balls to spare.
The way Taide sent a powerful pull shot way back into the stands after the powerplay and crafted multiple on-the-rise boundaries through covers, Andhra must have realized they were around 40-50 runs short on the CCI pitch.
Taide was clobbering Andhra with his keep-simple-and-play-to-the-merit tempo and produced a 41.4-over spectacle that was a treat to witness.
Earlier, Vidarbha bowlers were disciplined after Faiz opted to field. They reduced Andhra to 97 for 4 by the 27th over with Aditya Thakare (10-2-22-2) choking runs up front. Andhra added 96 runs in the last 51 balls after Ambati Rayudu's (53) exit. Rayudu and opener CR Gnaneshwar (93) took them to 191 for 5 by the 41st over.
BRIEF SCORES
Andhra 287 for 8 in 50 overs (C Gnaneshwar 93, Ambati Rayudu 53; Yash Thakur 3-74, Aditya Sarwate 3-45, Aditya Thakre 2-22) lost to Vidarbha 288 for 2 in 41.4 overs (Atharva Taide 164 n.o, Yash Rathod 44 n.o, Ganesh Satish 43; H Reddy 1-23) by 8 wickets.
