Hubli, Feb 27 (IANS) Right-arm pacer Auqib Nabi picked up his seventh five-wicket haul of the season as Jammu & Kashmir bowled out Karnataka for 293 in 93.3 overs, taking a massive 291-run first-innings lead in the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 Final at the Hubli Cricket Ground on Friday.

Karnataka began cautiously in reply to Jammu and Kashmir’s first-innings total of 584, scoring just 27 runs in the first ten overs. Auqib kept things tight with a series of maiden overs and got the breakthrough in the 12th over, inducing a faint edge from Rahul that wicketkeeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan safely collected.

The visitors increased the pressure when Sunil Kumar dismissed Devdutt Padikkal. Soon after, Nabi struck twice in two balls, removing Karun Nair and Smaran Ravichandran to leave Karnataka struggling at 57/4.

In the middle of the trouble, Mayank played a fighting knock and built a 105-run partnership with Shreyas Gopal. The former Karnataka captain reached his century in 153 balls. However, Jammu and Kashmir struck back at an important moment when Yudhvir Singh Charak trapped Gopal lbw for 27 with a sharp delivery.

Mayank continued to hold one end firmly and got good support from Kruthik Krishna. The pair batted with patience and did not lose a wicket for the rest of Day 3.

J&K broke the stand early on Day 4 when Sahil Lotra bowled Krishna for 36 in the 77th over. Sushil Kumar then removed Vidyadhar Patil in the 84th over, reducing Karnataka to 256/7.

Despite losing partners, Mayank kept attacking loose deliveries and found the boundary regularly. After surviving a few dropped chances, he was finally dismissed in the 91st over when Auqib trapped him with a good-length ball. Mayank scored 160 off 266 balls, hitting 21 fours.

Auqib completed his five-wicket haul by dismissing Shikhar Shetty, while Yudhvir Singh took the final wicket of Prasidh Krishna as Karnataka were bowled out for 293.

Brief Scores: Jammu & Kashmir 584 all out (Shubham Pundir 121, Yawer Hassan 88, Sahil Lotra 72, Kanhaiya Wadhawan 70, Paras Dogra 70; Prasidh Krishna 5-98) lead Karnataka 293 all out in 93.3 overs (Mayank Agarwal 160, Kruthik Krishna 36; Auqib Nabi Dar 5-54, Sushil Kumar 2-51, Yudhwir Singh Charak 2-55) by 291 runs.

–IANS

sds/bc