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Padikkal goes past 700 runs; Harvik gets ton as Karnataka, Saurashtra head to VHT semi-finals

Mayank

Harvik Desai and Devdutt Padikkal featured performers of VHT QF Day 1 [Source: samking1406, JioHotstar/X.com]Harvik Desai and Devdutt Padikkal featured performers of VHT QF Day 1 [Source: samking1406, JioHotstar/X.com]

The first two Quarter Finals of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025/26 season took place on Monday, January 12, as Karnataka faced Mumbai in a big knockout fixture, while Saurashtra collided with the unbeaten Uttar Pradesh in the Centre of Excellence, Bengaluru, to determine the first two semi-finalists of the season.

Both matches, which were being played at adjacent fields, saw a similar trend of teams bowling first and dominating the matches, seeing two comfortable run-chases led by the respective openers of Saurashtra and Karnataka. As the two teams head to the final four of the competition, here's a brief look at the top performances.

Padikkal's hot form leads Karnataka to SF; Mulani's efforts in vain

In a battle of the heavyweights, Karnataka captain Mayank Agarwal asked Mumbai to bat first, and his opening bowlers squeezed the batters under pressure, with Angkrish Raghuvanshi only managing 27 off his 50-ball stay at the crease. Courtesy of Vidyadhar Patil and Vyshak Vijaykumar, Mumbai were put on the back foot with 57/3 and 60/4 on the board in 17.2 overs.

Captain Siddhesh Lad and Shams Mulani added 76 runs for the 5th wicket before the skipper was dismissed for 38(58) at 136/5. Mulani stuck till the final over, finishing with 86(91) with 8 fours under pressure and took the team to 254/8 alongside Sairaj Patil's crucial 33*(25). Vidyadhar Patil was the pick of the Karnataka bowlers with 3/42 (10), while Vidwath Kaverappa and Abhilash Shetty picked two each.

As it has been the case throughout the tournament, Devdutt Padikkal batted on the auto-pilot mode to reach his 81*(95) after losing Mayank at 12(24). He added 143*(143) runs with Karun Nair (74*) for the 2nd wicket to win the match by 68 runs (VJD method). With this knock, Padikkal's season tally has reached 719 runs at an average of 100.55. He was also named Player of the Match.

Captain Harvik Desai's ton overpowers Rizvi's batting exploits

Yet another match, where the team winning the toss and deciding to field first had an upper hand in the game at the Centre of Excellence, took place at the adjacent field to the aforementioned fixture, where Rinku Singh's Uttar Pradesh was asked to bat first by Harvik Desai.

The duo of Chetan Sakariya and Prerak Mankad put Saurashtra in front early in the match, reducing UP to 134/4, including the big wickets of Rinku Singh and Priyam Garg. Following a couple of quick dismissals, the in-form Abishek Goswami scored 88 runs off 82 balls with some exquisite stroke play, getting 12 fours to his name. Priyam Garg also scored 35(39) alongside him and got UP 57(53) for the third wicket.

After Mankad dismissed captain Rinku for 13(20), Sameer Rizvi went on an onslaught and carried the bat with an unbeaten 88 off 77 with 10 fours and two sixes to his name. Prashant Veer and Zeeshan Ansari chipped in with 30(31) and 20(10), respectively, to get them 310/8 in 50 overs. Sakariya finished with 3/54 (10), and Mankad got 2/47 (7).

On the other hand, the chase was made incredibly smooth by captain Harvik, who stitched a 133-run partnership for the second wicket with Mankad after an early wicket of Vishvarjsinh Jadeja. The latter got out for a well-made 67(66), but Harvik carried the bat and finished with his third century of the tournament, getting 100*(116). Chirag Jani scored 40*(31) as they won by 17 runs (VJD method).