Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25: Decoding the notable records and stats
What's the story
Karnataka clinched the 2024-25 edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, beating Vidarbha by 36 runs in the final.
The summit clash was played at Vadodara's Kotambi Stadium.
This win marked Karnataka's record fifth title in the prestigious domestic cricket tournament.
Notably, the season saw Vidarbha qualify for their maiden VHT final.
Here were decode the notable records scripted in the tournament.
Road to victory
Joint-most titles in VHT history
Karnataka had an impressive run in the group stage, losing only once in seven matches. They defeated Baroda and Haryana in the knockouts to reach the final against Vidarbha.
This was their first final appearance in over five years since their previous victories in 2013-14, 2014-15, 2017-18 and 2019-20 seasons.
Meanwhile, Karnataka are now the team with the joint-most VHT titles (5). They joined Tamil Nadu besides breaking the tie with Mumbai.
Batting
Nair tops the billing in VHT 2024/25
Vidarbha skipper Karun Nair had a dream season. He ended as the top scorer, amassing 779 runs at 389.50.
He finished the tourney with five tons and a fifty. Only Narayan Jagadeesan (5 in 2022-23) has slammed as many tons in a VHT edition.
Nair also became just the third batter after Jagadeesan (830 in 2022-23) and Prithvi Shaw (827 in 2020-21) to slam 750-plus runs in a VHT series.
Information
Other batters with 500-plus runs
Mayank Agarwal led Karnataka from the front as he finished as the season's second-leading run-getter with 651 runs at 93. He slammed four tons besides a half-century. With 520 runs at 86.66, Siddhesh Veer of Maharashtra is the only other batter with 500-plus runs this season.
Stats
Highest score and most sixes
Mumbai's 17-year-old cricketing prodigy Ayush Mhatre clocked the highest-individual score this season, 181 against Nagaland.
Abishek Porel (170* vs Delhi) and Punjab's Abhishek Sharma (170 vs Saurashtra) trail him on this list.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan's Kartik Sharma was the leading six-hitter with 26 maximums.
Punjab's Prabhsimran Singh (24), Mhatre (23), and Abhishek (23) were the others with 20-plus sixes.
Information
Best strike rate in the season
Mhatre's strike rate of 135.50 was the best among batters with at least 400 runs in the season. Punjab openers Abhishek (130.4) and Prabhsimran (128.68) trail him in this regard.
Bowling
Arshdeep leads the bowling charts
With a remarkable tally of 20 wickets at 18.25, Punjab's Arshdeep Singh finished as the leading wicket-taker.
Tamil Nadu's Varun Chakaravarthy, and Karnataka duo of Shreyas Gopal and Vasuki Koushik share the second-position on this list with 18 scalps apiece.
While Varun was the only one to claim multiple fifers (2), Arshdeep took the most four-plus wicket hauls (3).
Records
Other key bowling records
Puducherry's Aman Hakim Khan (6/30 vs Arunachal), Tamil Nadu's CV Achyuth (6/31 vs Jammu and Kashmir), and Vidarbha's Darshan Nalkande (6/55 vs Tamil Nadu) were the bowlers with six-wicket hauls in the season.
While Karnataka's Varun had the best average (12.16) among bowlers with 10-plus wickets in the season, Gujarat's Ravi Bishnoi had the best economy (3.64) in this regard.
Numbers
Here are the other key records
Punjab openers Abhishek and Prabhsimran scripted the highest partnership in the season, 298 against Saurashtra.
Meanwhile, Punjab became the first team to score 400-plus runs on multiple occasions in a single Vijay Hazare Trophy edition.
They clocked a mammoth 426/4 against Hyderabad and 424/5 against Saurashtra. These two also happen to be the highest team scores this season.
Karnataka scripted the highest-successful chase in the tournament, 383 against Mumbai.