Vijay Hazare Trophy: Sarfaraz Khan, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Krunal Pandya, Akash Deep Light Up Action On Final Day Of Year

Standout performances from Sarfaraz Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Krunal Pandya, Devdutt Padikkal, Akash Deep and Venkatesh Iyer were the highlights in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) on Wednesday.

Madhya Pradesh (16 points), UP (16 points), Mumbai (16 points), and Odisha (12 points) finished at the top of their respective groups in the elite competition.

Starting the action with Group A, the clash between Karnataka and Puducherry saw the former put up 363/4 on the board after electing to bat first, with Devdutt Padikkal (113 in 116 balls, with 10 fours and four sixes) hitting his 12th List-A century in his 36th appearance and skipper Mayank Agarwal (132 in 124 balls, with 15 fours and two sixes) and Karun Nair (62* in 34 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes) scoring big. For Puducherry, the fifties came from Neyan Shyam Kangayan (68 in 66 balls, with nine fours and a six) and Jayant Yadav (54 in 35 balls, with three fours and two sixes), but they were skittled out for 296 in 50 overs, with Manvanth Kumar L (3/52) being Karnataka's best bowler.

In the clash between Tamil Nadu and the current Syed Mushtaq Ali Champions, Jharkhand, Jharkhand secured a nine-wicket win as Utkarsh Singh (123* in 120 balls, with 13 fours and three sixes) and Shikhar Mohan (90 in 108 balls, with nine fours) effortlessly chased 244 set by Tamil Nadu.

The clash between Madhya Pradesh and Tripura witnessed MP securing a four-wicket win. MP elected to bowl, with Vijay Shankar (91 in 98 balls, with four boundaries) and Sridam Paul (52 in 58 balls, with four boundaries) taking Tripura to 286/7 in 50 overs, with Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer picking 4/44 in his 10-over spell. Yash Dubey (105 in 97 balls, with eight fours and two sixes) and Shubham Sharma (71 in 75 balls, with two fours and two sixes) played crucial knocks as MP chased down the total with four wickets, and Shankar (3/49) was the pick of the bowlers for Tripura.

Shifting action to Group B, the last season's finalists pulled off an eight-wicket win chasing an easy target of 114 runs, with Dhruv Shorey (43 in 43 balls, with five fours) and Darshan Nalkande (4/33) being crucial contributors.

Akash Deep (4/32), Mukesh Kumar (4/16) and Mohammed Shami (2/14) reduced Jammu and Kashmir to 63 all out in 20.4 overs, with Bengal chasing it down with nine wickets in hand and Abishek Porel (30* in 26 balls, with three fours and a six) top-scoring during the run-chase.

In a swashbuckling batting performance, Baroda reached a massive total of 417/4 against Hyderabad, powered by a hat-trick of centuries. The onslaught began with opener Nitya Pandya, who set the foundation with a fluent 122 off 110 balls. He was joined by Amit Pasi, who continued the aggressive batting with 127 off just 93 deliveries. The finishing touch was provided by Captain Krunal Pandya, who played a blistering, unbeaten knock of 109* off only 63 balls, smashing 18 boundaries and a six. His innings helped Baroda set a daunting target of 418 for Hyderabad. Hyderabad fought hard, with a century from Abhirath Reddy (130 in 90 balls, with 18 fours and two sixes), but their spirited fightback was cut short at 380/10 in 49.3 overs. Atit Sheth and Mahesh Pithiya picked three wickets each for Baroda.

In Assam's clash against UP, a four-fer from Vipraj Nigam (4/66) and another brilliant outing by spinner Zeeshan Ansari (3/60) helped UP bundle out Assam for a challenging 308 in 48.4 overs, with skipper Sumit Ghadigaonkar (101 in 82 balls, with nine fours and three fours) chipping in a fine ton for his side. In the run-chase, an in-form UP team pulled off the chase easily, with Aryan Juyal (150* in 140 balls, with 15 fours and three sixes), Priyam Garg (52 in 53 balls, with five fours) and Rinku Singh (37* in 15 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) helping UP complete the chase in just 42 overs with eight wickets in hand.

In the Maharashtra vs Uttarakhand match, Maharashtra captain Ruturaj Gaikwad led from the front with a brilliant 124-run knock. Batting first, Gaikwad's 124 came off 113 balls (with 12 fours and three sixes) and was the backbone of his team's performance. Riding on his ton and contributions from Satyajeet Bachhav (56) and Ramakrishna Ghosh (47), Maharashtra posted a formidable total of 331/7 in their 50 overs.

While Uttarakhand managed to pick up late wickets to slow the momentum, the damage was already done by the skipper's clinical innings. Uttarakhand was skittled out for 202 runs in 43.4 overs, with Rajvardhan Hangargekar (3/37) and Satyajeet Bachhav (3/22) being the pick of the bowlers.

Mumbai posted a massive total of 444/8 against Goa in their VHT match, driven by a sensational power-hitting display. The platform was built by Yashasvi Jaiswal, who, in his return to the Vijay Hazare Trophy, scored a steady 46 runs (in 64 balls, with six fours) before narrowly missing out on his half-century. His solid start was complemented by Musheer Khan, who anchored the middle overs with a well-made 60 in 66 balls (with five fours and two sixes).

However, the innings will be remembered for Sarfaraz Khan's onslaught. Sarfaraz played a breathtaking knock, reaching his century in just 56 balls and eventually finishing with a staggering 157 runs off only 75 deliveries. His explosive innings included nine fours and 14 sixes, propelling Mumbai well past the 400-mark and leaving the Goa bowlers with no answers. Mumbai wicket-keeper batter Hardik Tamore (53 off 28 balls) also contributed to the team's massive total in the first innings. Goa went down fighting, posting 357/9 in 50 overs, with Abhinav Tejrana (100 in 70 balls, with five fours and eight sixes), Deepraj Gaonkar (70 in 28 balls, with two fours and seven sixes) and Lalit Yadav (64 in 66 balls, with three fours and two sixes) grinding it out for the team.

In another Group C clash, Punjab chased down the 222 runs set by Himachal Pradesh, with Prabhsimran Singh (84 in 84 balls, with 11 fours), Anmolpreet Singh (72 in 83 balls, with six fours), and Naman Dhir (50* in 44 balls, with five sixes) chasing the total in just 36.1 overs.

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All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy (one wicket and 30 in 40 balls, with four boundaries) had a moderate outing as Andhra Pradesh failed to chase 255 runs set by Saurashtra, bundled out for just 180 runs in 47.2 overs.

Anshul Kamboj (4/43) and skipper Ankit Kumar (144* in 123 balls, with 14 fours and three sixes) had an incredible outing as Haryana chased down 272 set by Services in 45.1 overs.

Lastly, in pursuit of the 273 runs set by Odisha, Delhi was skittled out for just 193 runs in 42.3 overs, with skipper Rishabh Pant (24 in 28 balls, with three fours and a six) continuing his patchy form.