Vidarbha Beat Karnataka to Enter Vijay Hazare Trophy Final
Vidarbha beat Karnataka by six wickets in the semi-final to reach the Vijay Hazare Trophy final, with Aman Mokhade scoring 138.
Vidarbha booked their place in the 2025–26 Vijay Hazare Trophy final with a solid six-wicket win over defending champions Karnataka on January 15 in Bengaluru.
The semi-final was played at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, and the win helped Vidarbha avenge their loss to Karnataka in last season’s final. The chase was led by opener Aman Mokhade, who played one of the best knocks of the tournament.
Vidarbha first did well with the ball after Karnataka chose to bat. Pacer Darshan Nalkande produced a career-best spell of 5 for 48, breaking the middle and lower order and keeping the total in check.
Karnataka were steady after early wickets, thanks to a strong recovery stand between Karun Nair and KL Shrijith. The pair added 113 runs and helped their team reach a good position midway through the innings.
However, the momentum shifted after Nair’s dismissal. Karnataka collapsed from 187 for 3 and managed only 93 runs for their last seven wickets. They were bowled out for 280 in 49.4 overs.
In reply, Vidarbha lost a couple of early wickets but Mokhade held the chase together with calm and control. He played with confidence, mixing patience with clean stroke play.
Mokhade smashed 138 off 122 balls, hitting 12 fours and two sixes. It was his fifth century of the season, and it also made him the leading run-scorer of the tournament, going past Devdutt Padikkal.
He found strong support from Ravikumar Samarth, a former Karnataka player, who played a mature knock. The duo stitched together a match-defining 147-run partnership for the third wicket.
Samarth stayed unbeaten on 76 off 69 balls and finished the game in style with the winning boundary. Vidarbha reached the target with 22 balls to spare, underlining their control in the chase.
This win takes Vidarbha into their second straight Vijay Hazare Trophy final, showing their consistency in the 50-over format this season.
Vidarbha will now face the winner of the second semi-final between Punjab and Saurashtra in the title clash.
