Shreyas Iyer hits 82 upon return; Mumbai, UP, Karnataka make knockouts

Group A

Karnataka are through.
Kerala-Jharkhand-Madhya Pradesh in a three-horse race for second spot.

Group B

Uttar Pradesh are through
Vidarbha, Bengal and Baroda in a three-horse race for second spot

Group C

It's clear Punjab and Mumbai will qualify from this group, having posted five wins in six matches. No other team can catch them even after the final round of matches on Thursday.

Group D

Delhi, Saurashtra and Haryana are in a three-way race for two spots. This group is going right down to the wire.

This is a result that could have massive ramifications for rest of Group A.

Karnataka are on track to post their sixth straight win - which makes them the first team to qualify.

The fight for the second spot is on, with MP in a commanding position.

It didn't seem that way when Jharkhand were cruising at 207 for 1 in their chase of 278. But from there on, they've lost 5 for 29. This includes the massive strikes of centurion Shikhar Mohan, Ishan Kishan, Virat Singh, Kumar Kushagra and Anukul Roy.

Jharkhand need 40 more and have 11.2 overs to get there, but are running out of wickets.

If MP win, they'll take giant steps towards being the second qualifier from this group.

If Jharkhand win, we will have a scenario where all of Jharkhand-MP-Kerala will be in a race to qualify on January 8.

Kerala have chased down Puducherry's 247 in just 29 overs with eight wickets in hand. This is Kerala's fourth win in six games. They're breathing down MP's neck on the points table.

India's ODI captain is out for 11 of 12 balls, as Punjab lose two early in their chase of 212 against Goa in a 33-overs a side clash. Both openers - Gill and Prabhsimran Singh - were nipped out by seamer V Koushik.

Hyderabad may be out of the knockout race, but they look set to drag Bengal down with them. After piling up 352, they've ripped through Bengal’s top order to leave them reeling at 73 for 4, with Mohammed Siraj producing a fiery opening spell of 5–0–32–3.

A defeat here would leave Bengal on four wins from six games. Even in loss, though, the priority is clear: limit the damage to their net run rate. Getting as close as possible to Hyderabad’s total could yet prove crucial in staying ahead of Vidarbha on NRR.

Named Mumbai captain for two league fixtures to round off the round-robin phase, Shreyas Iyer has come out all guns blazing in a truncated clash against Himachal.

Having come out to bat in the 17th over with a platform set, Iyer is currently unbeaten on 66 off 44 balls, leading a charmed life along the way (two reprieves). He's got India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav for company.

Short of runs himself and in dire need of a turnaround, Suryakumar is currently unbeaten on 17.

Mumbai 195/3 in the 23rd over. Remember, the match has been reduced to 40-overs-a-side.

USA-born, Hyderabad batter Aman Rao, who was signed by Rajasthan Royals at the IPL auction, has converted his maiden List A century, in only his third match, into a sparkling 200 not out against a strong attack of Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar.

Hyderabad finish strongly on 352 for 5 after being put in to bat by Bengal.

Aman got there with a six off the last ball of the innings; 120 of his runs have come off Shami, Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar.

This is the second double-ton of this VHT season after Odisha's Swastik Samal.

Mumbai's clash against Himachal reduced to 33-overs-a-side. Himachal opt to bowl.

Punjab have elected to bowl against Goa in a match reduced to 40 overs

He was within nine runs of scoring a fifth century in six matches, but Devdutt Padikkal is dismissed for 91. But not before Karnataka have made yet another dominating start, this time against Rajasthan. Mayank Agarwal, the captain, is approaching his century and is now joined by Karun Nair. They're 188/1 in the 30th over.

Both sides have four wins in five. A win today will ease them into the knockouts.

Delhi have reduced Railways to 88/5 in 22 overs, with Ishant Sharma having terrific figures of 4-2-5-1. Harshit Rana and Harsh Tyagi have also picked up a wicket each.

Haryana are superbly positioned, at 156 for 1 in 25 overs against Andhra.

Group C action will have to wait.

Both Mumbai and Punjab have four wins in five games, and are best-placed to qualify from this group. But should they slip up in their respective games, and Maharashtra-Goa win, things could get mighty interesting.

For now, we're waiting for fog to clear.

Uttar Pradesh lead the table with five straight wins. But for the second spot, we've got Bengal and Vidarbha in a serious race.

Vidarbha's task is made tougher by the fact that they're playing toppers UP, who have once again made a solid start. They're 55/0 in the 11th over, with openers Abhishek Goswami and Aryan Juyal going strong.

Bengal are equally under the pump against Hyderabad, who've raced to 70/0 in the 10th over, courtesy Aman Rao and Rahul Singh. With Tilak Varma set to come in next, the pressure is on a strong Bengal attack comprising Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep & Mukesh Kumar.

Karnataka are unbeaten after five games, and are all but through. But the race for the second spot is heating up in Group A.

SMAT champions Jharkhand are on a sticky wicket. A win today against second-placed Madhya Pradesh will keep them alive in the knockouts race. A loss will knock them out of contention.

For starters, they're boosted by the return of Ishan Kishan, who takes over the gloves (from Kumar Kushagra) and captaincy (from Virat Singh). Ishan's two knocks so far includes incredible opening-day century, albeit in a losing cause against Karnataka, and 25 against Hyderabad.