Jaipur, Jan 5: Jharkhand's Utkarsh Singh impressed with a century even as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Vidarbha and Baroda secured direct qualifications to the quarterfinals after topping their respective groups in the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Sunday. Utkarsh's 120-ball 102 came in a winning cause as Jhrakhand beat Goa by 31 runs after posting 320/7 in their Group A match. The result meant Darshan Misal's innings of 151 off 111 balls went in vain, as Goa were stopped at 289/9 in their allotted 50 overs. 'We Need Players Like Yashavi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy Who Protect Their Wicket Like Life', Sunil Gavaskar Assess Team India's Poor Performance in BGT 2024-25. 

Jharkhand, however, could not make the knockouts from the group as Gujarat topped it with Haryana being the second team to progress. Jharkhand finished third. Gujarat crushed Odisha by exactly 100 runs as they advanced to the quarters with an all-win record in the group stage.

Batting first, Gujarat were all out for 252 in 47.5 overs after contributions from Urvil Patel (45), Hemang Patel (48) and Ravi Bishnoi (40). In reply, Odisha were bowled out for 152 with Bishnoi returning excellent figures of 4/17 and Chintan Gaja chipping in with 3/28 for the winners.

In the match between Haryana and Manipur, the former emerged easy winners by six wickets and with 94 balls to spare after restricting the northeastern state to 210/9.

Maharashtra top despite loss to Railways

At the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Railways got the better of Maharashtra by 32 runs but that did not come in the way of the latter finishing on top of Group B.

Railways posted a challenging 284/7 riding on half-centuries from Sahab Yuvraj Singh (79) and Suraj Ahuja (55) and then bowled out Maharashtra for 252 with Purnank Tyagi finishing with figures of 5/57 and Raj Choudhary taking 3/43.  ‘Someone Should've Told Virat Kohli, Don't Play This Shot', States Yuvraj Singh's Father Yograj Singh on Star Indian Batter's Struggles in BGT 2024-25.

Like toppers Maharashtra, second-placed Rajasthan too ended their group engagements with a reverse, suffering a shocking six-run defeat to Sikkim at DY Patil Stadium. Batting first, Sikkim posted 275/5 following Parth Palawat's 80 and Ashish Thapa's 73, and then skittled their fancied opponents for 269 despite half-centuries from lower-order batters Manav Suthar and Kukna Ajay Singh. Ankur Malik was the most successful bowler for Rajasthan, returning figures of 4/35.

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Karnataka drub Nagaland

There were no surprises in Sunday's Group C matches with Karnataka and Punjab registering comprehensive wins against Nagaland and Puducherry respectively in Ahmedabad.

Domestic heavyweights Mumbai, however, missed out on qualifying for the knockouts as they finished third. The top two teams from each group progress to the knock-outs with the top five group winners automatically making the quarter-finals. Karnataka thrashed Nagaland by nine wickets chasing 206, with seasoned opener Mayank Agarwal making an unbeaten 116 off 119 balls after Shreyas Gopal picked up 4/24. Legend 90 League 2025: Former India Cricketer Harbhajan Singh Join Haryana Gladiators Squad for Showpiece Event.

Having put up an imposing 338/9, Punjab then bundled out Puducherry for 171 to win by 167 runs. There were as many as five half-centuries in the Punjab innings, before India seamer Arshdeep Singh (4/19) and Raghu Sharma (4/37) did an admirable job with the ball. Meanwhile, third-placed Mumbai beat Saurashtra by five wickets after chasing down a target of 290 with 24 balls to spare.

Vidarbha cruise to 10-wicket win over Mizoram

In their Group D match in Vizianagaram, Vidarbha sailed into the quarterfinals with a 10-wicket drubbing of Mizoram after bowling out the latter for 72. Harsh Dubey picked up 4/20 before Apoorv Wankhade blazed away to an unbeaten 30-ball 50. Legend 90 League 2025: Former Cricketers Shikhar Dhawan, Ross Taylor Join Delhi Royals Squad.

The group's other qualifier, Tamil Nadu got the better of Chhattisgarh by 73 runs after posting a formidable 301 all out. Baba Indrajith (75) and Vijay Shankar (71) were the chief contributors for Tamil Nadu before Varun Chakravarthy (3/34) and his colleagues chipped in with the ball to skittle Chhattisgarh for 228.

Baroda, Bengal through

Baroda defeated Delhi by five wickets after bowling out the latter for 180. Opener Arpit Rana top-scored for Delhi with a 75 before Baroda managed to complete the chase with 16 balls to spare. Bengal lost to Madhya Pradesh by six wickets but made the knockouts cut in second place after registering four wins in all in the group stage. 7/21/2024

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