Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26: Nabi’s maiden century hands Jammu & Kashmir stunning win against Hyderabad

The final group stage encounter of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26, against Jammu & Kashmir, at the Niranjan Shah Stadium Ground ‘C’ on Thursday, once again exposed Hyderabad’s unfortunate, uncanny ability to lose games from strong positions.

The pace battery, led by skipper C.V. Milind and Mohammed Siraj, 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 the fifth position in the Group B standings for Jammu & Kashmir.

With the shorter deliveries continually troubling the batters, Siraj and Milind picked two wickets each to derail the Jammu & Kashmir innings early. The J&K batters’ attempts to take on the relentless barrage with horizontal bat shots proved to be the wrong option. Nabi and Vanshaj then displayed an account of their ability to wield the long handle against the spinners to frustrate the Hyderabad outfit. The decision to revert to pace came too late as the two set batters managed to prolong their association. The pacer brought up his hundred off 65 balls, connecting his pull shots and slogs over midwicket to perfection. The Hyderabad fielders wilted under pressure, dropping three gilt-edge chances, and with that, an opportunity 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. The southpaw collected boundaries at regular intervals against the Jammu and Kashmir pace duo of Nabi and Yudhvir Singh. Nabi kept the ball full, trying to eke out as much movement as possible in the first half hour, allowing Gahlaut to play his shots down the ground. Yudhvir was much shorter in length in his first spell and managed to beat the opener’s defence to break the 64-run opening partnership within nine overs. 

Aman Rao (60, 77b, 4×4, 3×6), who played just 15 balls for four runs in the first-wicket stand, combined with Abhirath Reddy to take the team past three figures. The opener fought through the frustration of ineffective rotation of strike once the finger spinners came into the attack. The 21-year-old managed to find a couple of release shots to keep the runs flowing, but perished on one such attempt, top-edging an attempted slog sweep to backward point. 

The middle order was tied down by the tweakers, with short cover and short midwicket cutting out attempts to rotate strike. K. Nitesh Reddy (54 n.o., 61b, 6×4) managed to hold up one end despite wickets tumbling around him. His occasional boundaries helped the side past the 250-run mark and ensured that it played out the allotted 50 overs. The score could have been a lot lower if J&K held onto its catches, with as many as four dropped catches crippling the team’s collective bowling effort.

However, Nabi and Vanshaj’s heroics ensured the extra runs conceded were only a small blemish on the overall result. 

Published on Jan 08, 2026