The league stage of the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy wrapped up on Thursday, and the final round produced a little bit of everything: a pace-fuelled rout, a scarcely believable collapse and several eye-catching hundreds. When the dust settled, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Vidarbha, Punjab, Mumbai, Delhi and Saurashtra had booked the eight quarter-final spots.
Quick, cold and clinical from Delhi
Group D began the morning with three sides still alive. That hope faded quickly for Haryana once Ishant Sharma, Navdeep Saini and Prince Yadav found their length on a chilly Bengaluru surface. Ishant’s opening burst – 5-1-7-3 – was vintage: “hit the seam, let the pitch do the talking,” as he likes to say. Saini and Yadav matched him, sharing three wickets apiece, and Haryana slumped to 105 all out in 25.4 overs.
Nitish Rana then iced the chase with 57 from 39 balls, six fours and four sixes scattered into the empty stands. Delhi were home in 13.3 overs with nine wickets to spare and, crucially, their net run-rate in healthy shape.
How did Mumbai contrive to lose?
Mumbai v Punjab was meant to be a dead rubber; both sides were already through. It ended up the contest of the day, and one that left Mumbai’s dressing-room eerily quiet.
Punjab stumbled to 216 – Ramandeep Singh’s busy 72 and Anmolpreet Singh’s 57 the only significant resistance. With Sarfaraz Khan blazing the fastest fifty by an Indian in men’s List A cricket, Mumbai coasted to 139 for 2 inside 15 overs. Shreyas Iyer (45) looked in complete control, the requirement down to 16 with 27.4 overs left and five wickets in hand.
Then it unravelled. Iyer miscued, Shivam Dube followed cheaply, and the lower order froze. From 212 for 6, Mumbai lost four wickets for three runs and were bowled out for 215, still 24.2 overs unused. One senior player, head in hands afterwards, muttered: “We just stopped batting.”
Runs flow in Group B, Bengal bow out
Elsewhere, Group B produced a string of 300-plus totals but only one qualifier was ever certain. Uttar Pradesh had already sealed top spot; the second berth came down to Vidarbha, Baroda and Bengal. UP made everyone’s life simpler by beating Bengal in Rajkot.
Dhruv Jurel’s purple patch continued – 123 from 96 balls – as UP chased 270 in only 42.2 overs. It was his sixth fifty-plus score in seven knocks, two of them hundreds. Rinku Singh finished unbeaten on 37, while Mohammed Shami managed just the single wicket for Bengal. UP therefore became the only team to finish the group phase unbeaten.
Quarter-final picture
Karnataka topped Group A, Madhya Pradesh emerged from a tight Group C, while Vidarbha edged out Baroda by a whisker on net run-rate. The quarter-final draw will be released on Friday morning, with all matches scheduled for Hyderabad next week.
Brief scores
Group D – at Bengaluru: Haryana 105 in 25.4 overs (Ishant Sharma 3-7, Navdeep Saini 3-27, Prince Yadav 3-21) lost to Delhi 106/1 in 13.3 overs (Nitish Rana 57). Delhi won by nine wickets.
Group A – at Valsad: Punjab 216 in 46.3 overs (Ramandeep Singh 72, Anmolpreet Singh 57) beat Mumbai 215 in 22.2 overs (Sarfaraz Khan 52, Shreyas Iyer 45; Baltej Singh 3-41) by one run.
Group B – at Rajkot: Bengal 270 in 49.1 overs lost to Uttar Pradesh 273/4 in 42.2 overs (Dhruv Jurel 123, Rinku Singh 37*). UP won by six wickets.
What next?
Knockout cricket tends to tighten nerves – Mumbai’s collapse was an early reminder. Delhi’s seamers, Karnataka’s balance and UP’s form line make them obvious threats, yet the shortened nature of 50-over matches this season has kept margins thin. In the words of Vidarbha coach Trevor Gonsalves, “You can be brilliant for 95 overs and still lose the last five – that’s the format.” The quarter-finals start Monday.
