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Padikkal-Nair sink Mumbai, Desai holds UP: Punjab and Vidarbha roar as Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025/26 semis take shape
The Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-finals featured thrilling matches, with Karnataka, Saurashtra, Punjab, and Vidarbha advancing to semis.
The Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 quarter-finals at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru delivered the full knockout mix: big totals, sudden collapses, and the kind of the rain that turns even the calmest coach into a mathematician.
Two matches were settled by the V Jayadevan (VJD) method, but the common thread across all four was the fight of the phases, where momentum became either a platform or a trap.
Karnataka vs Mumbai: Padikkal and Nair star
Mumbai finished on 254/8, held together largely by Shams Mulani’s 86 off 91 after the top order failed to convert the starts. Karnataka’s bowlers kept the lid on the death overs, led by Vidyadhar Patil (3/42) and Vidwath Kaverappa (2/43), ensuring there was no late surge that could take the total past the 280 mark.
Karnataka’s chase was built strongly. Mayank Agarwal fell early, but Devdutt Padikkal (81* off 95) and Karun Nair (74* off 80) removed uncertainty with a low-risk, high-control partnership. When rain ended play at 187/1 in 33 overs, Karnataka were well ahead of par and advanced by 55 runs (VJD), looking every bit like defending champions who know how to win.
Saurashtra vs Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh posted 310/8, powered by Abhishek Goswami’s 88 off 82 and Sameer Rizvi’s 88* off 77. It was a serious tidal, and on a normal day it would have forced a chase to take real risks.
Saurashtra, however, refused to panic. Chetan Sakariya’s 3/54 and Prerak Mankad’s 2/48 prevented UP from stretching the innings into the 330s. Then came the chase blueprint: captain Harvik Desai anchored with 100* off 116, while Mankad’s 67 off 66 kept scoring pressure from building. At 238/3 in 40.1 overs when rain stopped play, Saurashtra had created the one thing VJD rewards most - a cushion - and went through by 17 runs.
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Punjab vs Madhya Pradesh
This was the most one-sided quarter-final. After Madhya Pradesh chose to field, Punjab piled up 345/6 through layered acceleration: Prabhsimran Singh (88), Anmolpreet Singh (70), and Nehal Wadhera (56 off 38) kept the innings moving in waves, never allowing MP a quiet stretch to reset.
MP’s chase then collapsed to 162 all out in 32 overs. Rajat Patidar top-scored with 38, while captain Venkatesh Iyer’s second-ball duck summed up the effort. Punjab’s attack shared the damage - Sanvir Singh 3/31, Gurnoor Brar 2/27, Krish Bhagat 2/28, Ramandeep Singh 2/23, and the 183-run win landed like a message: they’re not just qualifying, they are arriving.
Vidarbha vs Delhi
Vidharbha’s 300/9 was built on a platform and a surge. Atharva Taide’s 62 set the tone, Dhruv Shorey’s 49 held the middle, and Yash Rathod’s 86 off 73 provided the decisive lift that turned defendable into difficult.
Delhi never settled in the chase. Nitish Rana fell for a first-ball duck, and the innings kept rebooting rather than building. Anuj Rawat fought with 66 off 98, and Harsh Tyagi added 27, but the asking rate and wickets climbed together. Vidarbha bowled Delhi out for 224 in 45.1 overs, driven by Nachiket Bhute’s 4/51 and Harsh Dubey’s 3/36.
The quarter-final takeaway
Karnataka and Saurashtra chased in the rain-hit games as if the interruptions were a part of the opposition, building buffers early and denying any VJD drama. The full games showed the other route to safety. Punjab overwhelmed with a 345-and-bowlout performance, while Vidarbha defended 300 by taking wickets at the right moments. The semi final line up stands - Karnataka vs Vidharbha, and Saurashtra vs Punjab. It will very soon give us the two finalists of this season.
