CSK’s Anshul Kamboj bowling against DC during the TATA IPL 2026 cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk in Chennai on Saturday, April 11, 2026.
| Photo Credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM

Seeking a break in IPL after going unsold in mega auction, Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal will look to extend his incredible run of form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy when he leads his team out in their semi-final against defending champions Haryana in Vadodara on Wednesday. If four-time winners Karnataka have the likes of Agarwal, Shreyas Gopal and Vijaykumar Vyshak in their ranks, Haryana will be banking on in-form players such as Nishant Sindhu, Anshul Kamboj and Ankit Kumar to get the job done for their side.

While a return to the national fold may not seem realistic at this stage of his career, the 33-year-old Agarwal would want to impress the IPL franchises with a strong finish to the tournament in which he has already amassed four hundreds against Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh, Hyderabad and Nagaland.

Apart from the sensational Karun Nair, Agarwal is the only other batter to have aggregated over 600 runs in the season so far.

The veteran opener has so far scored 619 runs at an excellent average of 123.80, while striking the ball at a rate of 109.75 to show his aggressive intent throughout the season.

Karnataka can also afford to lean on the shoulders of KV Aneesh, who has totalled 342 runs from eight matches going into the first semifinal. Also, Devdutt Padikkal had smashed a century in their win over Baroda in the quarterfinals.

When it comes to bowling, Agarwal’s top performers so far have been his experienced deputy Shreyas Gopal (16 wickets in 8 matches) and seamer Vasuki Koushik (17 wickets in 10 matches).

Karnataka topped Group C before defeating Baroda by five runs in a close quarter-final match but in Haryana, they could probably face their most difficult test of the premier tournament.

There is no dearth of match-winners in the Haryana line-up.

Amit Kumar has scored 507 runs from 10 matches at a fine average of 56.33, while the 20-year-old Nishant Sindhu has been brilliant with both bat and ball.

Sindhu has scored 313 runs with the willow and has picked 12 wickets with his left-arm spin at an excellent economy rate of 4.98.

Kamboj has been very impressive with the ball, having claimed 18 wickets in 10 games while playing a vital role in Haryana’s run to the semifinals.

A handy batter lower down the order besides being a very promising seamer, Kamboj has the ability to move the ball both ways and could prove to be a difficult customer for the Karnataka batsmen.

Haryana entered the semi-finals by finishing second in Group A and defeating Bengal and Gujarat in the preliminary quarter-final and quarter-final, respectively.

India A vs Oman Highlights, ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024© X/@BCCI

India A excelled in all three departments, clinching a thrilling seven-run victory over Pakistan to kick off their ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup campaign on an exhilarating note in Al Amerat, Oman on Saturday. India’s top order fired in unison as it posted 183 for 8 with Tilak Verma top-scoring with a 35-ball 44 after opting to bat. Pacers Anshul Kamboj (3/33) and Rasikh Salam (2/30) and spinner Nishant Sindhu (2/15) shared eight wickets amongst themselves to restrict Pakistan to 176/7.

Not only did India shine with the bat and ball, they also delivered an impressive performance in the field, particularly through Ramandeep Singh, who made a stunning catch and saved vital runs in the closing moments.

Openers Abhishek Sharma (35 off 22) and Prabhsimran Singh (36 off 19) unleashed an aggressive assault on the pace attack, sending the ball flying across the field.

Abhishek slapped consecutive boundaries in the first over, while Prabhsimran followed suit by dispatching Zaman Khan for a four and a six in the next over, setting a vibrant tone.

Together, they struck eight boundaries and five sixes, propelling India A to an impressive 68 without loss during the Powerplay.

However, the introduction of spin after the Powerplay slowed their momentum, leading to the loss of both Abhishek and Prabhsimran in quick succession. This brought skipper Verma (44) and Nehal Wadhera (25) to the crease.

As the pitch became increasingly sluggish, Verma took on the anchor role, while Wadhera and Ramandeep (17) found the boundaries.

After losing two wickets to the pace of all-rounder Anshul Kamboj early in the chase, Yasir Khan (33) and Qasim Akram (27) began to attack fiercely.

However, a spectacular catch by Ramandeep at deep midwicket broke their partnership, dismissing Yasir. In the same over, left-arm spinner Nishant made his mark by removing Akram.

Arafat Minhas top-scored for Pakistan with 29-ball 41 but it was Abdul Samad who blazed away to 25 off 15 balls. Samad walked in when Pakistan needed 58 more to win but the 26-year-old hit a six and two back-to-back boundaries off Vaibhav Arora in the 16th over to bring down the equation to 42 off 24 balls.

Samad continued to chip in with Pakistan needing 17 off the last over but the big-hitter was sent marching off the first ball by Anshul with India completing a memorable win.

Pacer Anshul Kamboj ended up with an eight-wicket haul.© X (formerly Twitter)

India B opener Abhimanyu Easwaran continued to bat confidently as he scored a defiant century to guide his team to 309 for 7 against India C, which still looked in control to enforce a follow-on in their Duleep Trophy match on Saturday. Despite Easwaran’s unbeaten 143, India B trail India C by 216 runs and require 66 more runs to avoid a follow-on with just three wickets in hand. India C had scored a mammoth 525 in their first innings with Ishan Kishan scoring a century. The Day 3 of the tie belonged to the India B skipper, who scored a patient 262-ball 143 amid a procession of wickets with India C pacer Anshul Kamboj’s five-wicket haul (5/66 in 23.5 overs) bringing Easwaran’s team on its knees.

Undaunted by the fall of wickets at the other end, Bengal batter Easwaran kept frustrating the India C bowlers, though he still has work to do on Sunday to avoid a follow-on.

Commencing the day at 124 for no loss with Easwaran (overnight 51 not out) and Narayan Jagadeesan (overnight 67 not out) holding fort, India B were rattled quite early when Kamboj struck in only the fourth over of the morning session.

The 23-year-old Haryana pacer, who had played a few matches for Mumbai Indians in the IPL last season, got rid of the dangerous Jagadeesan who added just three runs to his personal score, getting the Tamil Nadu batter caught by wicket-keeper Abhishek Porel for 70, thus breaking the 129-run partnership.

Kamboj then had brothers Musheer and Sarfaraz Khan cheaply for 1 and 16 runs respectively before accounting for hard-hitter Rinku Singh (6) and Nithis Kumar Reddy (2) to completely destabilise India B.

At 194 for 5, things looked bleak for Easwaran’s side, but the skipper took it upon himself to shore up his side amid some hostile bowling by Kamboj. He stitched together a 43-run partnership with Washington Sundar (13) and then a 46-run stand with Sai Kishore (21) to repair the damage.

At stumps, Rahul Chahar (18 not out) was giving Easwaran company but with just three wickets left, it could be a difficult task for India B to avoid a follow-on.

India C skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad could even decide against enforcing a follow-on, given tomorrow is the last day of the contest and they are assured of three vital points on the basis of first innings lead.

However, if Gaikwad enforces the follow-on and wins the match, his team will earn six points.

Captain Hardik Pandya’s pace and veteran leg-spinner Piyush Chawla’s craft put the brakes on Sunrisers Hyderabad’s batting line-up before Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma’s scintillating display with the willow gave Mumbai Indians a rare win this season.

Riding on Suryakumar’s 51-ball unbeaten 102, studded with 12 fours and six sixes, and his unbroken third-wicket association of 143 off just 79 balls with Tilak (37 not out, 32b, 6×4), the host overhauled the target of 174 with 16 balls to spare.

When Tilak took guard in the fifth over, MI was in a spot of bother.

With the Sunrisers pace battery having reduced the home team to 31 for three, Mumbai Indians was in danger of letting its bowlers’ good work come apart because of another poor show by the top-order.

Ishan Kishan, straightened up by Marco Jansen, was caught in slips, Rohit Sharma miscued a pull off Cummins, and Naman Dhir slashed Bhuvneshwar to point to make early exits.

But in the seventh over, Suryakumar changed the complexion by taking on Jansen. In what turned out to be a 22-run over, Suryakumar swung the left-arm pacer over the fine-leg fence twice with his trademark behind-the-wicket innovations.

Then on, Tilak played a perfect second fiddle as his partner continued to torment the opposition attack.

The flamboyant batter settled a score with Cummins by essaying three consecutive pull shots in the 17th over that not only brought MI to the cusp of a win but also put him on the verge of a hundred. He achieved both the milestones in the next over by lofting S. Natarajan’s first ball over long-off for a six.

Had it not been for Chawla and Hardik’s partnership with the ball, MI would have been chasing a stiffer target.

The duo picked three crucial wickets — Travis Head, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Heinrich Klaasen — for just six runs in 11 balls to derail Sunrisers from 90 for two to 96 for five.

The two shared another three scalps in the 16th and 17th overs to put MI on top before Cummins’ cameo helped SRH cross the 170-run mark.

Scoreboard

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head c Tilak Varma b Chawla 48 Abhishek Sharma c Ishan Kishan b Bumrah 11 Mayank Agarwal b Anshul Kamboj 5 Nitish Reddy c Anshul Kamboj b Hardik Pandya 20 Heinrich Klaasen b Chawla 2 Marco Jansen b Hardik Pandya 17 Shahbaz Ahmed c Suryakumar Yadav b Hardik Pandya 10 Abdul Samad lbw b Chawla 3 Pat Cummins not out 35 Sanvir Singh not out 8 Extras: (LB-2, W-9, NB-3) 14

Total: (For 8 wickets in 20 Overs) 173

Fall of wickets: 1-56, 2-68, 3-90, 4-92, 5-96, 6-120, 7-124, 8-136.

Mumbai Indians bowling: Nuwan Thushara 4-0-42-0, Anshul Kamboj 4-0-42-1, Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-23-1, Hardik Pandya 4-0-31-3, Piyush Chawla 4-0-33-3.

Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan c Mayank b Jansen 9 (7b, 2×4), Rohit Sharma c Klaasen b Cummins 4 (5b, 1×4), Naman Dhir c Jansen b Bhuvneshwar 0 (9b), Suryakumar Yadav (not out) 102 (51b, 12×4, 6×6), Tilak Varma (not out) 37 (32b, 6×4)

Extras: (b-4, lb-10, w-8): 22

Total: (for three wkts. in 17.2 overs): 174.

Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Kishan, 1.4), 2-31 (Rohit, 3.2), 3-31 (Dhir, 4.1).

Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling: Bhuvneshwar 4-1-22-1, Jansen 3-0-45-1, Cummins 4-1-35-1, Natarajan 3.2-0-31-0, Nitish 2-0-16-0, Shahbaz 1-0-11-0.

Toss: Mumbai Indians. PoM: Suryakumar

MI won by seven wickets with 16 balls to spare