3 months ago
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Sport is replete with examples wherever the astir well-thought-out of plans and best-informed of decisions person travel a cropper.
But Jammu & Kashmir, for a 4th consecutive day, displayed clockwork precision to guarantee that its march towards cricketing past would stay unaltered.
On the penultimate time of the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy last astatine the KSCA Rajnagar Stadium here, Auqib Nabi secured his 4th five-wicket haul successful 5 innings (5/54) and became the season’s highest wicket-taker (60) arsenic Karnataka folded for 293 and conceded a monolithic 291-run first-innings lead.
Then, the distant batters – led by the delightfully unorthodox Qamran Iqbal (94 n.o., 160b, 11x4, 1x6), who enlivened proceedings not conscionable done his shot-making but besides via the banter helium indulged successful with Karnataka speedster V. Vyshak – battled their mode to 186 for 4 to swell the vantage to 477 runs.
With conscionable Saturday left, it is lone a substance of clip earlier J & K ascends the Indian home game’s pulpit for the archetypal clip ever.
Auqib Nabi celebrates a wicket with his teammates. | Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR
The big took the tract connected Friday hoping for overnight batters Kruthik Krishna and Mayank Agarwal to bat arsenic agelong arsenic they can. But the former’s dismissal successful the ninth implicit of the greeting for 36 (101b, 2x4) pegged the broadside back.
The on-field umpire adjudged Kruthik leg-before but the southpaw challenged it. A 10-minute-long reappraisal ensued, wherever it had to archetypal beryllium adjudicated if determination was bat connected ball.
With the 3rd umpire deeming that determination was nary conclusive grounds to beryllium that, the on-field telephone stood, laying bare the information that contempt each the technological enactment and attempts to marque things achromatic and white, cricket inactive has a batch of grey.
Mayank soldiered on, bringing up his 150 with an edged bound aft substitute wicket-keeper Dikshant Kundal grassed a catch.
But erstwhile Nabi removed him for 160 (266b, 21x4) and Shikhar Shetty for a duck – some leg-before and some connected reappraisal – Karnataka was boxed into a corner.
It tried to jailbreak by sending backmost J & K’s first-essay performers Yawer Hassan and Shubham Pundir with conscionable 11 connected the board. The erstwhile chopped connected a Prasidh Krishna transportation and the second was caught down the leg-side disconnected Vyshak.
Then, with the squad people connected 32, Iqbal was beaten each ends up by Vidyadhar Patil lone for the bails to not autumn contempt the shot brushing against the stumps. Devdutt Padikkal & Co. were abruptly a chirpy lot, and possibly sensed an ever-so-slight opening.
Skipper Paras Dogra, however, unopen them down with a dogged 83-minute enactment (16, 59b) earlier Iqbal and Abdul Samad (32, 70b, 4x4, 1x6) combined for 73 runs to each but crush Karnataka’s chances.
CM Abdullah to ticker last day’s play
Jammu and Kashmir main curate Omar Abdullah is scheduled to ticker the last day’s play of the Ranji Trophy last successful Hubballi connected Saturday. J & K is connected the cusp of a historical maiden Ranji triumph aft having taken a monolithic 291-run first-innings pb implicit hosts Karnataka.
The scores: Jammu & Kashmir — 1st innings: 584.
Karnataka — 1st innings: K.L. Rahul c Wadhawan b Nabi 13, Mayank Agarwal lbw b Nabi 160, Devdutt Padikkal c Samad b Sunil 11, Karun Nair b Nabi 0, R. Smaran c Wadhawan b Nabi 0; Shreyas Gopal lbw b Yudhvir 27, Kruthik Krishna lbw b Lotra 36, Vidyadhar Patil c sub (Kundal) b Sunil 11, V. Vyshak (not out) 17, Shikhar Shetty lbw b Nabi 0, Prasidh Krishna c Sunil b Yudhvir 4; Extras (lb-3, nb-11): 14; Total (in 93.3 overs): 293.
Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-56, 3-57, 4-57, 5-162, 6-241, 7-256, 8-278, 9-288.
Jammu & Kashmir bowling: Nabi 23-7-54-5, Sunil 19-6-51-2, Yudhvir 14.3-3-55-2, Abid 23-2-75-0, Lotra 12-1-50-1, Samad 2-0-5-0.
Jammu & Kashmir — 2nd innings: Qamran Iqbal (batting) 94, Yawer Hassan b Prasidh 1, Shubham Pundir c sub (Shrijith) b Vyshak 4; Paras Dogra b Prasidh 16, Abdul Samad c Vyshak b Shreyas 32, Sahil Lotra (batting) 16; Extras (b-17, lb-4, w-2): 23; Total (for 4 wkts. successful 57 overs): 186.
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-11, 3-72, 4-145.
Karnataka bowling: Vyshak 10-1-30-1, Prasidh 12-0-42-2, Vidyadhar 9-0-39-0, Shikhar 10-3-27-0, Shreyas 16-6-27-1.
