Uttar Pradesh oust Vidarbha to secure U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy
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Uttar Pradesh emerged as champions on the basis of first innings lead after the finals of the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy ended in a draw. Defending champions Vidarbha let loose of the command in the game as Sameer Choudhary of Uttar Pradesh dispelled the opponent bowlers in his match-winning century.
Uttar Pradesh 283 & 305 (Sameer Choudhary 119, Aryan Sharma 52, Dhruv Chand Jurel 43; Harsh Dubey 4-97, Nachiket Bhute 2-48, Yash Kadam 2-14) drew with Vidarbha 251 & 53 for 1 in 15 overs (Aman Mokhade 36*, Mandar Mahale 17*; Kartik Tyagi 1-21).
Uttar Pradesh stood out tall after they were pushed to 201/8 early in the final day of the match. They played attacking cricket when the second new ball was taken and Sameer Choudhary was the stand-out performer, as he single-handedly took the game away from Vidarbha.
Vidarbha arrested the flow of runs and kept picking wickets in the initial session of the day. But they have only themselves to blame for their skipper Yash Kadam’s over-reliance on spinners over successful pacers in Dushyant Tekan and Nachiket Bhute as Choudhary counter attacked the spinners and played with intent to take the score past 300 from the overnight score of 148-5.Â
The lead had shot up to 337 and the chase seemed not likely, with very fewer overs left to bat with. The match had come to an end in a draw as Vidarbha managed to put only 53 runs in 15 overs but the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy was awarded to Uttar Pradesh for their first innings lead and they dethroned the defending champions in style. Â
