The final group stage encounter of Hyderabad in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025 against Jammu and Kashmir at the Niranjan Shah Stadium Ground ‘C’ here on Thursday, once again exposed its weakness to fall apart from strong positions.
Hyderabad’s pace battery made the most of the purchase available off the surface for short balls to reduce the opponent to 90 for seven, before Auqib Nabi’s maiden List-A century (114 n.o., 82b, 10×4, 7×6) and an undefeated 182-run eighth-wicket association – the highest in the competition’s history – with Vanshaj Sharma (69 n.o.,78b, 7×4,3×6) turned what seemed like a foregone conclusion on its head.
The thrilling three-wicket win was completed with 13 balls left and secured fifth position in the Group B standings for J&K.
With the shorter deliveries continually troubling batters, Mohammed Siraj and C.V. Milind picked two each to derail the J&K innings early.
Nabi and Vanshaj then displayed an account of their ability to wield the long handle against the spinners to frustrate the Hyderabad outfit.
Late decision
The decision to revert to pace came too late, with a set Nabi connecting his pull shots and slogs over midwicket to perfection.
The Hyderabad fielders wilted under pressure, dropping three gilt-edge chances and with that the chance to close out the game.
Earlier, after being asked to bat first on a chilly morning, Rahul Singh Gahlaut (56, 36b, 8×4, 2×6) gave the side a proactive start for the second match running, before being castled by Yudhvir Singh. Aman Rao (60, 77b, 4×4, 3×6) and K. Nitesh Reddy (54 n.o., 61b, 6×4) fought through a middle-order collapse to take the team past 250.
The score could have been a lot lower if J&K had not dropped four catches. Nabi and Vanshaj’s heroics ensured the extra runs conceded were only a small blemish on the overall result.
Meanwhile, Vidarbha earned a 160-run win over Assam to qualify for the quarterfinal by virtue of having a better Net Run Rate in comparison to Baroda, which beat Chandigarh by 149 runs.
Uttar Pradesh went through as the group topper with seven wins in as many games.
