Kerala’s Vishnu Vinod went ballistic in the run chase against Puducherry with an unbeaten 84-ball 162 at Narendra Modi Stadium A Ground, Ahmedabad. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 clash, Puducherry were bowled out for 247 in 47.4 overs. Star batter Sanju Samson and skipper Rohan Kunnummal were dismissed cheaply but Vinod made the run chase look like a cakewalk. He smashed 14 sixes in his scintillating knock, most in a run chase in the tournament’s history.
Vinod missed out on getting the all-time VHT record of highest score in a run chase. The record belongs to Prithvi Shaw. The former Mumbai opener scored an unbeaten 185 off 123 balls in the run chase of 285 against Saurashtra in March 2021.
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Vinod’s carnage in Ahmedabad
Vinod’s unbeaten 162 is his highest List A score. It is his eighth century in the format. He walked out to bat in the fifth over of the innings. Baba Aparajith and Vinod got the run chase back on track. Vinod took on Sagar Udeshi and reached his fifty from 36 deliveries in the 13th over.
Vinod continued to take the aerial route while Aparajith played second fiddle. In the 23rd over, he hit Bhupendar Chauhan for two fours and a six. He reached his century from 63 balls. In the 26th over, he whacked Parth Vaghani for three consecutive sixes. In the 28th over, he completed 150 from 81 balls. Meanwhile, Aparajith reached his fifty from 64 balls. On the last ball of the 29th over, Aparajith hit a six off Udesi to finish off the run chase with eight wickets in hand and 126 balls to spare.
14 sixes hit by Vinod are most in a run chase. It is also the joint third-most by a batter in VHT innings. He shares the third spot with Jharkhand captain Ishan Kishan and Mumbai's Sarfaraz Khan.
Benched but retained by Punjab Kings
Vinod was picked by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for Rs 95 lakh in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. He did not get a single game in the previous edition. Before the mini-auction for the 2026 edition, he was retained by the Shreyas Iyer-led side.
In 2017, he made his IPL debut for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He could not do much in the three chances he got. Six years later, he played for Mumbai Indians (MI). From three games, he could only score 37 runs. He has been a part of Delhi Capitals (DC) and Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) squads as well.