After the completion of the league matches in all the zones of the tournament, ten teams were permitted to enter into the knock out level of the tournament. BCCI, the organisers of the Ranji Trophy, 1989-90 that is the premium domestic cricket tournament in India issued this permission. The teams included the likes of Bihar, Bengal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bombay, Baroda, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Hyderabad and Punjab and they comprised the top two teams of every zone. The teams played against each other in the Pre-Quarter-Finals, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final match of the tournament and gave their best efforts to become the coveted championship title. However, it was the Bengal team that eventually won the title after beating the Delhi team in the Final.

The first Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1989-90 saw the teams of Bihar and Karnataka playing against each other at Jamshedpur from 08-10 February, 1990. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials declared the Bihar team as the winner as it was having a lead in the first innings. The team entered into the Quarter-Final stage of the tournament by winning this match. The teams of Bombay and Madhya Pradesh played against each other in the second Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1989-90. The match was held at Bombay from 08-10 February, 1989 and the Bombay team won the match by a margin of an innings and 43 runs for reaching the Quarter-Finals of the tournament.

The Baroda and Uttar Pradesh teams played against each other in the first Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1989-90 and the match was held at Baroda from 16-18 February, 1990. The match saw a very close contest between the two teams and the Baroda team eventually became successful to clinch a narrow victory of only 3 wickets in the match for getting an entry into the Semi-Finals of the tournament. The second Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1989-90 was played between the teams of Bengal and Bombay and the two teams played the match at Calcutta from 16-18 February, 1990. Though the match was declared as a draw during the stipulated duration, the match officials allowed the Bengal team to advance to the Semi-Final stage of the tournament. The Delhi and Bihar were the teams that played against each other in the third Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1989-90 and the match took place at Delhi from 16-18 February, 1990. The Delhi team won the drawn match on the basis of its first innings lead and it also entered into the Semi-Finals of the tournament. The last and fourth Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1989-90 involved the teams like Hyderabad and Punjab and the two teams played the match at Secunderabad from 16-18 February, 1990. The match also remained drawn during the specified duration of time and the match officials allowed the Hyderabad team to advance to the Semi-Final stage of the tournament. The Hyderabad team got the chance as it was having a lead in the first innings of the match.

The teams of Baroda and Delhi played against each other in the first Semi-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1989-90 and the two teams played the match at Baroda from 02-05 March, 1990. The Delhi team entered into the Final of the tournament, by winning the drawn match on the basis of its lead in the first innings. The Bengal team played against the Hyderabad team in the second Semi-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1989-90 and the match was held at Secunderabad from 02-05 March, 1990. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials allowed the Bengal team to advance to the Final of the tournament. Thus, the Bengal and Delhi teams appeared against each other in the Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1989-90 and the match was organised at Calcutta from 23-25 March, 1990. The match saw a tough contest between the two teams and the Bengal team eventually won the match as well as the championship title, though the match was a draw.