Top 5 batting performances from Day 7 of Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2025/26

The seventh and last round of the group stage of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025/26 saw the eight teams that will take on each other in the quarterfinal three days later. Karnataka will be up against Mumbai, take on Karnataka, while Uttar Pradesh will face Saurashtra on January 12. Meanwhile, Delhi will be up against Vidarbha while Punjab will face Madhya Pradesh on the very next day.

Karnataka’s Devdutt Padikkal ended the group stage as the leading run-getter with 640 runs in seven innings at an average of 91.42 and a strike rate of 102.56, thanks to his four centuries and 150 at the base score of 147.

A look at the top 5 batting performances from Day 7 of Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2025/26

1.   Ruturaj Gaikwad (Maharashtra)

Against Goa, Maharashtra faced an ominous start, losing three wickets for two runs in the second over, and soon were reduced to 52/6 in the 21st over as captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was needed to shoulder them to a respectable total. The right-handed batter who was recently ignored for the Home ODI series against New Zealand ended with a fine knock of unbeaten 134 runs in just 131 balls. The next best score of the top six was five.

The knock was decorated with eight boundaries and six sixes at a strike rate of over 100 as they ended up with 249 for the loss of seven wickets in their allotted 50 overs, besides a contribution of 53 runs from number eight, Vicky Ostwal.

Brief Scores: Maharashtra 249/7 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 134*, Vasuki Koushik 3/38) beat Goa 244/9 (Lalit Yadav 57, Prashant Solanki 4/56) by 5-runs. 

2.   Sridam Paul (Tripura)

Tripura’s number four batter, Sridam Paul, has got a decent start in List A cricket with an average of 30 in 12 innings, thanks to his five half-centuries, two of which were part of this ongoing VHT season. However, again in Jharkhand in Ahmedabad, the right-handed batter posted his maiden century in the format. This came at a crucial situation when they were 20/3 in the fifth over.

Paul ended up with 150 runs in 134 balls with the help of 13 boundaries and six sixes at a strike rate of 111.94 in a partnership of 258 runs for the fourth wicket with Rajat Dey, who himself celebrated his century to take them to 320 in their allotted 50 overs.

Brief Scores: Tripura 320 (Sridam Paul 150, Rajat Dey 102, Sushant Mishra 6/52) beat Jharkhand 123 (Manishi 40, Abhijit Sarkar 4/40) by 197 runs.

3.   Auqib Nabi Dar (Jammu and Kashmir)

Jammu and Kashmir’s Auqib Nabi Dar has impressed the entire world with his excellent swing bowling as he got signed in the Indian Premier League. But he has now also displayed his excellent batting performances during the game against Hyderabad, where he played a jaw-dropping knock under pressure.

See Also: Harry Brook faces disciplinary action over bouncer clash ahead of Ashes 2025/26

When he walked out to bat, Jammu and Kashmir had already lost six wickets for 78 runs in their massive chase of 269 runs before Nabi posted a massive partnership of 182 runs and ended up with an unbeaten 114 in just 82 balls at a strike rate of nearly 140, thanks to his ten boundaries and seven sixes to complete the chase by three wickets.

Brief Scores: Jammu and Kashmir 272/7 (Auqib Nabi Dar 114*, Mohammad Siraj 2/45) beat Hyderabad 268/9 (Aman Perala 60, Nabi 3/56) by 3-wickets.  

4.   Dhruv Jurel (Uttar Pradesh)

When Dhruv Jurel blasted a fine knock of 160 against Baroda, it was enough to knock the doors of the selectors through his inclusion in India’s ODI side as a wicket-keeper batter. He continued the purple patch with two more half-centuries in our next three clashes before celebrating a fine knock of 123 runs.

When Bengal set a target of 270 runs, it was important for one of the Uttar Pradesh batters to stand till the end to see off the chase. The Rajasthan Royals batted did the same and ended up with that knock at a strike rate of one to eight with the help of nine boundaries and five sixes to complete the chase by five wickets with a little less than 8 / 2 spare.

Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 272/5 (Dhruv Jurel 123, Aryan Juyal 56, Akash Deep 1/27) beat Bengal 269 (Sudip Gharami 94, Zeeshan Ansari 3/33) by 5-wickets.

5.   Narayan Jagadeesan (Tamil Nadu)

Narayan Jagadeesan, the 30-year-old Tamil Nadu batter who got a chance for the fifth Test as a replacement for Rishabh Pant against England, is also knocking on the door in India’s white-ball formats, especially ODIs, for that position. It has been a roller coaster campaign for the opening batter, who got two half-centuries and two ducks in his last four innings of the competition.

Jagadeesan ended up with 139 runs in 126 balls at a strike rate of more than 110 with the help of nine boundaries and five sixes during their clash against Kerala, which helped them to post a massive score of 294. In reply, Kerala got bundled out for 217 as the opposition claimed the victory by 77 runs.

Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu 294/8 (Narayan Jagadeesan 139, Eden Apple Tom 6/46) beat Kerala 217 (Rohan Kunnummal 73, Mohammad Ali 4/36) by 77 runs.