The fifth round of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 was played on Saturday, January 3, 2026, with matches across India. A bunch of big names were back in the domestic scene, getting some match practice before the India vs. New Zealand ODI series. Here’s what stood out from the day’s action.
Top Batting Performances
| Player | Team | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Against | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardik Pandya | Baroda | 133 | 92 | 8 | 11 | Vidarbha | Rajkot |
| Axar Patel | Gujarat | 130 | 111 | 10 | 5 | Andhra | Bangalore |
| Rohan Kunnummal | Kerala | 116 | 70 | 8 | 10 | Jharkhand | Ahmedabad |
| Arshin Kulkarni | Maharashtra | 114 | 114 | 11 | 2 | Mumbai | Jaipur |
| Tilak Varma | Hyderabad | 109 | 118 | 6 | 3 | Chandigarh | Rajkot |
| Devdutt Padikkal | Karnataka | 108 | 120 | 8 | 3 | Tripura | Ahmedabad |
| Sanju Samson | Kerala | 101 | 95 | 9 | 3 | Jharkhand | Ahmedabad |
Top Bowling Performances
| Player | Team | Overs | Runs | Wickets | Against | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arshdeep Singh | Punjab | 10 | 34 | 5 | Sikkim | Jaipur |
| Varun Chakravarty | Tamil Nadu | 10 | 25 | 5 | Rajasthan | Ahmedabad |
Match Results Summary
| Match | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Punjab vs Sikkim | Jaipur | Punjab won by 10 wickets. |
| Delhi vs Services | Bengaluru | Delhi won by 8 wickets. |
| Gujarat vs Andhra | Alur | Gujarat won by 7 runs. |
| Bengal vs Assam | Rajkot | Bengal won by 85 runs. |
| Meghalaya vs Manipur | Ranchi | Manipur won by 3 wickets |
| Mizoram vs Bihar | Ranchi | Bihar won by 5 wickets |
| Goa vs Uttarakhand | Jaipur | Uttarakhand won by 7 wickets |
| Arunachal Pradesh vs Nagaland | Ranchi | Nagaland won by 9 wickets |
| Madhya Pradesh vs Puducherry | Ahmedabad | Puducherry won by 4 wickets |
| Karnataka vs Tripura | Ahmedabad | Karnataka won by 80 runs. |
| Baroda vs Vidarbha | Rajkot | Vidarbha won by 9 wickets |
| Maharashtra vs Mumbai | Jaipur | Maharashtra won by 128 runs. |
| Odisha vs Haryana | Alur | Haryana won by 4 wickets |
| Jharkhand vs Kerala | Ahmedabad | Kerala won by 8 wickets |
| Rajasthan vs Tamil Nadu | Ahmedabad | Rajasthan won by 10 runs |
| Saurashtra vs Railways | Alur | Saurashtra won by 31 runs |
| Uttar Pradesh vs Jammu & Kashmir | Saurashtra | Uttar Pradesh won by 58 runs. |
| Hyderabad vs Chandigarh | Rajkot | Hyderabad won by 136 runs. |
Hardik Pandya Smashes Maiden List A Century
Hardik Pandya lit up the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot with a knock that really turned heads. Baroda looked in trouble at 71 for 5, and then Pandya strolled in at number seven. He didn’t hang around—he just took control. Suddenly, the whole mood shifted.
Hardik Pandya Smashes Maiden List A Century
Hardik Pandya lit up the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot with a knock that really turned heads. Baroda looked in trouble at 71 for 5, and then Pandya strolled in at number seven. He didn’t hang around—he just took control. Suddenly, the whole mood shifted.
He smashed 133 runs off only 93 balls, cracking 11 sixes and eight fours along the way. The real fireworks came in the 39th over (5 sixes and 1 four). Parth Rekhade was bowling, and Pandya just went after him—five sixes and a four, racking up 34 runs in that one over. He got to his hundred in just 68 balls.
Pretty wild to think this was Pandya’s first-ever List A century, and it took him 119 games to get there. But thanks to that innings, Baroda finished with 293 for 9 in their 50 overs.
Punjab Crushes Sikkim by 10 Wickets
Punjab crushed Sikkim in Jaipur, and honestly, it wasn’t even close. Arshdeep Singh tore through Sikkim’s lineup, grabbing five wickets and leaving their batters with nowhere to hide. Sikkim never got going—they collapsed for just 75 runs in 22.2 overs. Mayank Markande chipped in with the ball too, backing up Arshdeep’s fiery spell.
Punjab barely broke a sweat chasing that tiny target. Prabhsimran Singh made it look effortless, smashing an unbeaten 53 off just 26 balls. Harnoor Singh stuck around too, as Punjab cruised to 81 without losing a single wicket in only 6.2 overs. One thing worth mentioning—Shubman Gill sat this one out thanks to a bout of food poisoning.
Delhi Beat Services Comfortably
Delhi shook off its last defeat and came back strong, beating Services by eight wickets in Bengaluru. Rishabh Pant, leading from the front, smashed a solid half-century, and Priyansh Arya chipped in with one of his own. Together, they made the chase look easy.
Virat Kohli sat this one out, taking a break for workload management. Services just couldn’t get going with the bat, handing Delhi a pretty simple target. With this win, Delhi keeps its hopes alive in Elite Group D.
Devdutt Padikkal Scores Fourth Century of the Tournament
Devdutt Padikkal just keeps going. He smashed another century against Tripura in Ahmedabad—his fourth hundred of the tournament. At this point, he’s clearly one of the standout players this season.
Things started rough for Karnataka. Abhijit Sarkar took out captain Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair in the same over, and suddenly they were 13 for 2 after just three overs. But Padikkal didn’t panic. He teamed up with Smaran Ravichandran, and together they put on 136 runs, pulling the team back into the game.
KL Rahul came back to domestic cricket after six years away. He didn’t hang around, though—he smashed 35 off 28 balls, hitting four boundaries and a six. Later, Abhinav Manohar made sure Karnataka finished strong with an unbeaten 79 from just 43 balls. They ended up posting 322 for 7.
Tilak Varma and Axar Patel Hit Centuries
Tilak Varma really stepped up for Hyderabad as captain against Chandigarh. He smashed 109 off 118 balls, hitting six boundaries and three sixes along the way. Thanks to his knock, Hyderabad posted 276 for 8, and Hyderabad won by 136 runs against Chandigarh.
Over in the Gujarat-Andhra match, Axar Patel pulled his team out of trouble. Gujarat was in a mess at 29 for 3, but Axar took charge. He hammered his first List A hundred in just 99 balls, dragging Gujarat to a competitive total.
Other Notable Results
Maharashtra smashed 366 for 4 against Mumbai and kept their unbeaten streak alive. Arshin Kulkarni gave Maharashtra hope with a gritty 114 off 114 balls, but Prithvi Shaw chipped in 71, and Ruturaj Gaikwad added 66 for Mumbai before getting out.
In another game, Jharkhand piled up 311 for 7 against Kerala, thanks to an unbeaten century from Kumar Kushagra. Sanju Samson was back for Kerala after missing out earlier. He looked at ease while chasing, holding things together.
Varun Chakravarthy stood out for Tamil Nadu, grabbing 4 wickets for just 25 runs in his 10 overs. His tight spin bowling kept Rajasthan to only 225. But in the end, Rajasthan beat Tamil Nadu by 10 runs.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were both looking to stay unbeaten. UP set a challenging target of 323 by Jammu and Kashmir and came close. Sameer Rizvi went after the bowling, taking UP to 322 for 5.
Star Players on Display
Round 5 brought a bunch of India internationals back into action at different venues. Ishan Kishan took charge of Jharkhand, Washington Sundar played for Tamil Nadu, and Harshit Rana suited up for Delhi.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli sat this one out. They’re pacing themselves with some big international matches coming up soon.
The Vijay Hazare Trophy keeps giving players a shot to prove themselves, especially with the India vs. New Zealand ODI series kicking off on January 11.
