The knock out level of the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 saw the participation from a number of 10 teams that included all the top teams from each and every zone. The teams that played against each other in the knock out matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 included the likes of Maharashtra, Bombay, Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Andhra. The teams fought very hard in the Pre-Quarter-Finals, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final of the tournament with the sole objective of winning the championship title. However, the Delhi team eventually became successful to win the title, once again.

The match between the teams of Maharashtra and Bengal was the first Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 and the match was held at Pune from 07-10 February, 1986. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials allowed the Maharashtra team to advance to the Quarter-Final stage of the tournament. The second Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 was played between the teams of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and the two teams played the match at Kanpur from 07-10 February, 1986. The drawn match saw the Tamil Nadu team getting the permission to compete in the Quarter-Finals of the tournament.

The first Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 saw a clash between the teams of Tamil Nadu and Bombay and the match was organised at Madras from 14-17 February, 1986. Though the match remained drawn during the specified period of time, the match officials allowed the Bombay team to enter into the Semi-Final stage of the tournament. The teams of Maharashtra and Delhi played against each other in the second Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 and the match took place at Pune from 14-17 February, 1986. The Delhi team advance to the Semi-Finals of the tournament from the drawn match. The clash between the teams of Bihar and Haryana took place in the third Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 and the two teams played against each other at Jamshedpur from 14-17 February, 1986. The match also remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials give the Haryana team the required permission to compete in the Semi-Final stage of the tournament. The last and fourth Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 involved the teams like Rajasthan and Andhra and the two teams played the match at Jaipur from 14-17 February, 1986. The drawn match saw the Rajasthan team getting the permission to compete in the Semi-Finals of the tournament.

The teams of Bombay and Haryana clashed with each other in the first Semi-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 and the match was held at Bombay from 15-18 March, 1986. The match saw a close contest between the two teams and the Haryana team eventually became successful to clinch a victory of 150 runs for entering into the Final of the tournament. The second Semi-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 saw a battle between the teams of Rajasthan and Delhi and the two teams played the match at Kota from 15-18 March, 1986. The Delhi team played extremely well in the match and entered into the Final of the tournament, by clinching a huge victory of 204 runs. Thus, the teams of Delhi and Haryana locked their horns together in the Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86, which was held at Delhi from 28 March-01 April, 1986. The Delhi team dominated the Haryana team throughout the Final and eventually won the match with a huge margin of an innings and 141 runs for becoming the champions, for yet another time.