VHT 2025-26, Q1 and Q2 reviews: Karnataka, Saurashtra register comfortable wins to oust Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh

The last week of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 began with Mumbai and Karnataka clashing in quarter-final 1, and Uttar Pradesh and Saurashtra meeting each other in quarter-final 2 on Monday, January 12.

1) Mumbai vs Karnataka, Quarter-final 1

Karnataka won the toss and elected to bowl first on a seemingly hard deck at the BCCI CoE Ground 1 in Bengaluru. The Karnataka pace duo of Vidwath Kaverappa and Abhilash Shetty kept the Mumbai openers Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Ishan Mulchandani quiet in the first 10 overs. The pressure was building even more when right-armer Vidyadhar Patil came into the attack as Mulchandani (20 off 32) tried to up the ante with a pull but succumbed.

Number 3 Musheer Khan looked positive but could not last long (9 off 7) as the 20-year-old was caught at first slip by Devdutt Padikkal off Vidyadhar Patil again. Siddhesh Lad, who captained the team in place of Shreyas Iyer, came in next. Raghuvanshi (27 off 50) was looking set for a long innings, but a Vijaykumar Vyshak delivery went through his defences.

Mumbai suffered another blow soon in the form of Hardik Tamore who was out for a solitary run. The batting team found themselves at 60/4 in the 18th over with a rebuilding phase looming. Left-hander Shams Mulani joined his captain and the pair put up a much-needed partnership of 76 runs off 97 balls before Lad perished for 38(58).

Mulani took the lead subsequently and formed crucial partnerships with the lower order. The 28-year-old reached his third List A fifty in the process. Mumbai were aiming for a 250+ total as a minimum and thanks to a late onslaught from Sairaj Patil (33* off 25) and Mulani (86 off 91) the team crossed the mark, ending up on 254/8. For Karnataka, Vidyadhar Patil was the best bowler with figures of 3/42.

Karnataka began the chase steadily as the overhead conditions provided the new-ball bowlers help. The track also generated considerable bounce as the openers Mayank Agarwal and Devdutt Padikkal played with caution. The partnership started to grow and it felt like Karnataka had seen off the best of the bowling conditions. But, Mohit Avasthi found a thick outside edge of Agarwal's bat leading to the captain's dismissal for 12(24).

Karun Nair came in at number 3 and the left hand-right hand pair kept on going well. Padikkal, who had already scored four hundreds and a fifty in the tournament before, scored yet another half century while Nair scored his second fifty of the tournament. The partnership was worth more than a hundred now and the team total crossed 150 as Karnataka were well on track to ace the chase.

The light faded late in the afternoon and ultimately it became so dark that play had to be stopped. Karnataka won the match by 55 runs on the VJD method as Padikkal remained unbeaten on 81 off 95 balls and Nair on 74* off 80 balls. Interestingly, Mumbai's famed bowling line-up could not do much despite the conditions favouring them on many occasions.

2) Uttar Pradesh vs Saurashtra, Quarter-final 2

Saurashtra won the toss and elected to field first at the BCCI CoE Ground 2 in Bengaluru. The overhead conditions favoured the fast bowlers but the same could not be said of the pitch. Left-armer Chetan Sakariya provided an early breakthrough for Saurashtra as wicketkeeper-batter Aryan Juyal was dismissed for a seven-ball duck.

Rituraj Sharma joined opener Abhishek Goswami as the pair played the initial overs cautiously. The former was looking good, but Sakariya struck again to send the 23-year-old back for 12(23). New man Priyam Garg gave Goswami good company as UP upped the scoring rate gradually. The team from the north crossed the 100-run mark in the 18th over as the pitch appeared to have lost its freshness.

Prerak Mankad, against the run of play, sent back Garg for a well-made 35 runs off 39 balls. Saurashtra needed the breakthrough badly and it put the brakes on the scoring rate slightly. Star batter Rinku Singh (13 off 20) could not do much damage as the left-hander became Mankad's second victim.

Goswami was still going strong as the 28-year-old completed his seventh List A half century. All-rounder Sameer Rizvi started steadily as the duo formed a 45-run partnership before Goswami's solid innings ended for 88(82). Rizvi formed crucial partnerships next with the lower order on his way to his second List A fifty. A late flourish helped UP reach 310/8 from their 50 overs as Rizvi finished unbeaten on 88 runs off 77 balls. For Saurashtra, Sakariya was the best bowler with figures of 10-2-54-3.

The team from the west began the innings warily as the overcast and windy conditions made the ball talk. Right-arm pacer Karan Chaudhary provided UP with the first wicket of Vishvaraj Jadeja (9 off 10) who was caught sharply by Rizvi at point. Number 3 Prerak Mankad joined opener wicketkeeper-captain Harvik Desai as the duo negated the dangers of the new ball.

The partnership kept on growing steadily with the required run rate not getting beyond reach at any moment. Both Mankad and Desai scored their half centuries and Saurashtra found a solid platform laid for the second half of the chase. But, slow left-arm bowler Prashant Veer had Mankad stumped in the 27th over for 67(66), thus ending a big 133-run partnership. Left-hander Sammar Gajjar looked good but was out for 14(18) not too long after.

Saurashtra needed a long and stable partnership to avoid any mishaps and they got it through Desai and Chirag Jani. The latter upped the scoring rate as the sky was getting darker and the team wanted to be ahead on the VJD method. In the process, the duo formed a 50+ run partnership with Desai reaching his eighth List A century.

Soon after, the play was stopped due to bad light and the match ended on the VJD method. Saurashtra won by 17 runs. For UP, no bowler could have a strong impact. For his all-round brilliance, Mankad was adjudged as the Player of the Match.