Karnataka Beat Vidarbha In Final To Clinch Fifth Vijay Hazare Trophy Title

Dhruv Shorey's third consecutive hundred went in vain as Karnataka rode on unfancied Smaran Ravichandran's stylish ton to win their fifth Vijay Hazare Trophy title, defeating Vidarbha by 36 runs in a high-scoring final in Vadodara on Saturday. Karnataka has an unprecedented record of reaching five finals and winning all of them. Left-handed Smaran smashed 101 off just 92 deliveries, while the unheralded keeper-batter Krishnan Srijith chipped in with a plucky 78 off 74 balls. T20 star Abhinav Manohar provided the final flourish with a blistering 79 off 42 deliveries, propelling the Karnataka to a commanding total of 348 for 6 in 50 overs In reply, Vidarbha, which had reached the final without losing a single game in the group stage, paid the price for most of their batters outside the top three failing to get significant time at the crease.

However, all-rounder Harsh Dubey's explosive 63 off 30 balls, which included five sixes and as many fours, gave the winners a scare before Vidarbha were all out for 312 in 48.2 overs.

Shorey, who scored a century in both the quarter and semi-final, looked classy en route his 110 but there was no support at the end once 'Player of the Tournament' Karun Nair (27) had a rare failure as he got a sharp off-cutter from Prasidh Krishna which also seemed to keep a tad low knocking the off-stump back.

Karun, whose name came up for discussion during Indian team's selection meeting in Mumbai, finished the tournament with 779 runs and a whopping average of 389.5.

At the other end, Shorey, a former Delhi opener, looked regal as he drove and played some great horizontal bat shots on the flattest of surfaces. He added 56 with Nair and another 62 with the seasoned Jitesh Sharma (34) but the boundaries