Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha Qualify For Quarterfinals, Baroda Miss Out On NRR In Vijay Hazare Trophy

Strong fifties from Atharva Taide and Ravikumar Samarth powered Vidarbha into the quarterfinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy with a thumping 160-run win over Assam in Rajkot on Thursday. Vidarbha became the second team to qualify, finish at 20 points behind Uttar Pradesh (28), who had booked the berth after the penultimate match. Locked in a three-way tie with Bengal and Baroda for the remaining knockout spot, Vidarbha needed a big win and delivered emphatically.

Vidarbha posted a competitive 308 for 7 before bowling out Assam for 148 in 35 overs, despite a fighting unbeaten 80 from skipper Sumit Ghadigaonkar.

Taide (80) and Dhruv Shorey (40) added 98 for the second wicket after the early dismissal of Aman Mokhade, setting the platform. After Shorey fell, Taide stitched a 40-run stand with Samarth before Vidarbha slipped to 152 for 5.

Samarth then anchored the innings with an unbeaten 76-ball knock, receiving support from Yash Kadam (41) and Nachiket Bhute (33). Akash Sengupta endured a torrid outing, conceding 77 runs in his 10 overs despite picking up three wickets.

In reply, Assam were never in contention, sliding to 77 for 5 in the 20th over.

Apart from Ghadigaonkar, only opener Swarupam Purkayastha (25) and Sengupta (11) reached double figures.

For Vidarbha, Parth Rekhade starred with the ball, returning figures of 4 for 45.

Baroda maul Chandigarh but miss knockout on NRR

Baroda suffered a heartbreak despite registering a dominant 149-run victory over Chandigarh, missing out on a quarterfinal berth on net run rate.

Baroda piled up a mammoth 391 all out in 49.1 overs, courtesy a blistering batting display that featured 34 fours and 14 sixes. Priyanshu Moliya top-scored with a 106-ball 113, while Hardik Pandya smashed a brutal 31-ball 75, including nine sixes. Jitesh Sharma returned to form with a rapid 33-ball 73 and Vishnu Solanki chipped in with 54 off 49 balls.

In response, Chandigarh were bowled out for 242 despite Shivam Bhambri's resolute 95-ball century. They slumped early to 43 for 3 and later lost three wickets in six balls across the 35th and 36th overs to completely lose the plot.

Dhruv Jurel blows away Bengal

In another match, Dhruv Jurel struck his second century of the tournament as Uttar Pradesh knocked out Bengal with a five-wicket win.

Bengal were bowled out for 269 in 45.1 overs, with Sudip Kumar Gharami (94) and Shahbaz Ahmed (43) doing the bulk of the scoring.

Jurel then led the chase with a commanding 123 off 96 balls, laced with nine fours and five sixes. Opener Aryan Juyel made 56, while skipper Rinku Singh stayed unbeaten on 37 as Uttar Pradesh cruised to 272 for 5 in 42.2 overs.

Jurel has now crossed fifty in six of his seven innings, including two centuries. Uttar Pradesh finished the league stage unbeaten with seven wins from seven matches.

Shivang's five-for helps MP defeat Karnataka and sail into VHT quarterfinals

Little-known left-arm spinner Shivang Kumar delivered a career-best five-wicket haul as Madhya Pradesh registered a comfortable seven-wicket victory over star-studded Karnataka to book a place in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinals from Group A in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Following the win, Madhya Pradesh -- who finished their group campaign with 20 points from seven games -- became the second team to secure a place in the VHT knockouts, behind Karnataka (24 points), who had already sealed their berth after the sixth round under Mayank Agarwal's leadership on Tuesday.

Kerala and Jharkhand, who were tied on 16 points with MP after the sixth round of matches on Tuesday, lost their games on Thursday to see their hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals evaporate.

The 26-year-old Shivang, featuring in just his third List A match, delivered a standout performance with figures of 5 for 45 in 10 overs. His spell snapped Karnataka's six-match winning streak, as they were bowled out for 207 in 47.4 overs -- an impressive feat given their dominance in the group this season, led by the prolific Devdutt Padikkal and Mayank Agarwal.

Chasing the target, Madhya Pradesh made light work of the run chase, reaching the target in 23.2 overs with just three wickets down to seal qualification ahead of Kerala and Jharkhand.

Openers Yash Dubey (40) and Himanshu Mantri (34) laid a solid foundation with a 78-run stand before skipper Venkatesh Iyer's unbeaten 65 guided Madhya Pradesh to a comfortable chase, finishing with 160 balls to spare.

Out-of-favour India batter Devdutt Padikkal, who has struck four centuries this season and narrowly missed a fifth by nine runs, was the first to fall, clean bowled by right-arm pacer Tripuresh Singh. That breakthrough opened the floodgates, with Shivang tearing through Karnataka's middle order.

Shivang, who was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad at his base price of Rs 30 lakh in the IPL 2026 mini auction recently, proved to be the differentiating factor, consistently picking up wickets at crucial junctures to thwart any late-order scoring surge.

Kerala's hopes go up in smoke

Kerala's hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage from the group went up in smoke as Tamil Nadu defeated them by 77 runs. TN skipper Narayan Jagadeesan smashed a superb 139 to help his team post an imposing total of 294. The bowlers then did the rest, with Sachin Rathi (4/52) and Mohamed Ali (4/36) leading a ruthless attack that bundled Kerala out for 217 in 40.2 overs.

Had Kerala won the match, they would have taken their points tally to 20 and drawn level with Madhya Pradesh, with net run rate deciding the second quarterfinalist from the group.

Jharkhand suffer crushing loss

Quarterfinal aspirants from the group Jharkhand suffered a crushing 197-run loss at the hands of Tripura, ending their hopes of advancing to the next round.

Tripura piled up a mammoth 320 in 50 overs. Jharkhand then suffered an inexplicable batting collapse to be all out for 123 in 31.1 overs, leaving them stranded on 16 points, whereas a win would have made them contenders for the quarterfinals with MP with Net Run Rate coming into play.