Vishvaraj Jadeja's Stellar 165 Leads Saurashtra to Vijay Hazare Trophy Final

Saurashtra Secures Final Spot with Dominant Performance

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], January 16: In a thrilling encounter, Saurashtra opener Vishvaraj Jadeja delivered an outstanding performance, scoring an unbeaten 165 runs, which propelled his team to a nine-wicket victory over Punjab in the second semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2025-26 on Friday.

This win guarantees Saurashtra a place in the final of the prestigious 50-over domestic tournament, where they will compete against Vidarbha on January 18.

Chasing a target of 292 runs, Saurashtra's captain Harvik Desai contributed significantly with a solid 64 runs off 63 balls, featuring nine boundaries. He formed a formidable opening partnership of 172 runs with Jadeja.

Jadeja's remarkable innings of 165 off 127 balls included 18 fours and three sixes, while Prerak Mankad added a valuable 52 runs from 49 balls, helping Saurashtra achieve their target in just 39.3 overs. For Punjab, Gurnoor Brar was the standout bowler, taking one wicket for 52 runs.

Earlier in the match, Punjab managed to post a total of 291 runs in their 50 overs, thanks to Anmolpreet Singh's century and a resilient 87 from wicketkeeper-batter Prabhsimran Singh.

Punjab began their innings with a 60-run opening partnership between Harnoor Singh and Prabhsimran Singh. However, Harnoor was run out in the 13th over due to a brilliant effort from Chirag Jani, finishing with 33 runs off 43 balls, including five fours and one six. Anmolpreet's impressive knock of 100 runs off 105 balls featured nine fours and one six.

Ramandeep Singh contributed 42 runs off 38 balls, but the remaining batsmen struggled, leading to Punjab's total of 291 runs. For Saurashtra, Chetan Sakariya was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/60 in 10 overs, supported by Ankur Panwar (2/54) and Chirag Jani (2/73).