Vijay Hazare Trophy: Mumbai suffer shocking one-run defeat to Punjab
What's the story
In a dramatic turn of events, Mumbai suffered a bizarre defeat by just one run against Punjab in the 2025/26 Vijay Hazare Trophy, the domestic 50-over competition. The match, held at Jaipuria Vidyalaya Ground in Jaipur on Thursday, saw Mumbai attempting to chase a modest 217-run target. With Sarfaraz Khan hammering a 20-ball 62, Mumbai looked poised at 201/5. In one of the worst collapses, they perished for 215 in 26.2 overs.
Bowling brilliance
Bowlers shine in Mumbai's collapse
Punjab's bowlers, Mayank Markande and Gurnoor Brar, were the stars of the match. They both picked four wickets each to derail Mumbai's chase. The two negated Sarfaraz's blistering 15-ball 50, which was part of a 20-ball innings where he scored 62 runs (7 fours and 5 sixes). He even smacked Punjab skipper Abhishek Sharma for 3 fours and 3 sixes in an over. The lower-order collapse came after the dismissals of Sarfaraz and captain Shreyas Iyer (45).
Game summary
Mumbai's batting collapse leads to narrow defeat
Mumbai's chase was panning out smoothly until Sarfaraz and Iyer were dismissed. This brought Mumbai down to 201/6. After their dismissals, the lower order crumbled under pressure, leading to a shocking defeat by just one run in the 27th over. Hardik Tamore, Sairaj Patil, Shashank Attarde, and Onkar Tukaram Tarmale fell within just 13 deliveries. Punjab's Harnoor Singh, Harpreet Brar, and Mayank Markande did the damage.
Record
Fastest-ever List A half-century by an Indian
According to ESPNcricinfo, Sarfaraz's is now the fastest half-century by an Indian in List A cricket (15 balls). This is overall the fourth-fastest half-century in the format, with Sri Lanka's Kaushalya Weeraratne topping the list (12 balls). The previous record for India was jointly held by Maharashtra's Abhijit Kale and Baroda's Atit Sheth, both of whom scored their fifties in 16 balls.
Match details
How Punjab's innings panned out
Earlier, half-centuries from Anmolpreet Singh (57) and Ramandeep Singh (72) helped Punjab post a total of 216 runs. Punjab were down to 65/4 at one stage, with star openers Abhishek Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh falling early. Harnoor Singh also departed for a duck. Musheer Khan was the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai. All-rounder Shivam Dube also took two crucial wickets.