Ranji Trophy | J&K shut the door on Karnataka

Hubballi: After their small, but significant, steps forward on the first three days, Jammu and Kashmir took a massive stride towards history on the fourth day of the Ranji Trophy final against Karnataka at the KSCA Rajnagar Stadium here on Friday. 

Having been bowled out cheaply for 293 in 93.3 overs on a good batting wicket, Karnataka’s bowling ran out of steam in the afternoon heat and were left staring at a mammoth 477-run lead as their hopes of keeping the final alive diminished gradually in front of their home fans. 

When stumps were drawn for the day, the visitors were 186/4 in 57 overs with Qamran Iqbal (94 n.o.) and Sahil Lotra (16 n.o.) enjoying their time in the middle with one hand on their maiden silverware.  

The fans in the stadium lived every ball towards the end of play as the tempers between the two sides flared up. There was quite a bit of chatter between Vyshak Vijaykumar (1/30) and Iqbal before umpire Rohan Pandit intervened to calm the situation down.

In contrast to the first innings, Karnataka showed better discipline that was required on this wicket as Prasidh Krishna (2/42) got the first breakthrough with a delivery that held its line as Yawer Hassan’s (1) thick inside-edge crashed onto his stumps. 

Vyshak, who was battling bad luck after bowling well in the first innings, found something that went his way when Shubham Pundir (4) poked at a delivery that was going down leg. 

Just when it seemed like the game had sprung to life with J&K at 11/2, the Karnataka optimism withered as Iqbal and Paras Dogra (16) stitched a 103-ball 61-run stand to calm some of the jitters in the visiting dressing room. 

Prasidh then provided another breakthrough when he angled in a length ball on off stump, inducing a mistake from Dogra, who played the wrong line and was bowled. 

Karnataka thought they had Abdul Samad (32) early, but his review for lbw confirmed he had edged the ball. 

After surviving a close call, Samad, together with Iqbal, shared a stand of 73 runs off 142 balls, again to frustrate Karnataka. In the process, Iqbal reached his seventh first-class fifty in 89 deliveries. 

Earlier, Kruthik Krishna’s (36) fighting spirit and an invaluable 79-run stand off 175 balls with Mayank Agarwal (160, 266b), batting for 144 minutes, delayed the inevitable. 

The resistance ended when he was trapped in front by Sahil (1/50) in the 78th over.

Kruthik reviewed the decision and it seemed like there was a deflection of the ball having brushed the inside edge before hitting the pad. However, third umpire Virender Sharma, having looked at several angles, did not have conclusive evidence to overturn the onfield decision and signalled it out. 

Vidyadhar Patil (11) was the next to go when Sunil Kumar (2/51) angled one in on a length, which he feathered it to the keeper.

A not-so-satisfactory outside edge off Auqib Nabi (5/54) that Dikshant Kundal dropped helped Mayank reach his 150 off 253 balls but there was no celebration as he knew the job was far from done.

The 443-minute marathon stay eventually ended as Mayank was caught in front following a review by Auqib Nabi (5/54), who picked his 59th wicket of the season.  

Nabi also got No. 60 to become the highest wicket-taker this season when he sent Shikhar Shetty (0) back to the hut. Yudhvir Singh (2/55) wrapped up the innings to hand J&K a massive 291-run lead.