By Admin 
Sarfaraz Khan ended 2025 on a high note by playing an explosive innings of 157 runs with the help of 14 sixes in 75 balls here on Wednesday, due to which Mumbai team reached close to the knockout stage by defeating Goa by 87 runs in the Group C match of Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Sarfaraz, who was also in excellent form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, completed a century in 56 balls, which was his third century in List A cricket. With its help, Mumbai scored a huge score of 444 runs for eight wickets and then restricted Goa to 357 runs for nine wickets.
This is Mumbai’s fourth consecutive win in the group league. Now one more win in the remaining three matches will definitely take them to the quarter-finals.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (46) made a comeback after being out of the opening week of the National ODI Championship due to ‘gastritis’ and Sarfaraz was completely dominant on the same day. He thrashed the Goa bowlers fiercely and hit nine fours and 14 sixes during his innings.
Of Sarfaraz’s 14 sixes, 10 were against off-spinner Lalit Yadav (two wickets for 93 runs) and left-arm spinner Darshan Misal (three wickets for 98 runs). Sarfaraz hit four sixes on Lalit and six sixes on Misal.
The balls of Arjun Tendulkar, son of the great Sachin Tendulkar, were also not spared, resulting in 78 runs in his eight overs.
Sarfaraz was out in the 42nd over and missed scoring his first double century in List A cricket. Despite this, Mumbai did not let the run pace slow down and scored more than 100 runs in the last eight overs.
Musheer Khan (60 runs), wicketkeeper Hardik Tamore (53 runs), Shams Mulani (22 runs), Tanush Kotian (23 runs not out) and captain Shardul Thakur (27 runs) also batted fast due to which the winning team hit a total of 35 fours and 25 sixes.
Goa never looked competitive while chasing the target. However, Lalit Yadav (64), Abhinav Tejrana (100) and Deepraj Gaikwad (70) batted well in the middle overs. But the target was so big that his innings was inadequate.
Captain Shardul Thakur once again proved his usefulness on a flat pitch, taking three wickets for 20 runs in six overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was bowling leg-break, took two wickets for 52 runs in three overs.