Hubballi (Karnataka): A by-the-book pacer Auqib Nabi and an unorthodox opener Qamran Iqbal blended their skills to place Jammu and Kashmir in a prime position to lift their maiden Ranji Trophy title against Karnataka on the penultimate day of the five-day final here on Friday.
Iqbal (94 not out) struck his seventh first-class fifty as Jammu and Kashmir reached 186 for four at stumps in their second innings, for an overall lead of 477 runs.
In the earlier part of the day, Nabi took his seventh five-wicket haul (5/54) of the season as J&K bowled out Karnataka for 293, grabbing an innings lead of 291 runs.
Karnataka’s first innings revolved around a valiant 160 off 266 balls by former skipper Mayank Agarwal but in the context of the match the knock remained a rather insignificant one.
Nabi was the primary reason behind confining Agarwal’s fine hundred to the shades. The J&K pacer was in his elements once Karnataka resumed from overnight 220 for five.
Overhauling J&K’s 584 was out of bounds, but Karnataka’s realistic hope was to whittle down the deficit as much as possible and then try to chase a reasonable target in the fourth innings.
Agarwal and Kruthik Krishna (36), seemed to be on course while adding over 80 runs for the sixth wicket.
But J&K’s saviour returned when the second new ball was taken.
But before Nabi could deal the biggest blow, Sahil Lotra removed Kruthik, trapping the wicketkeeper batter leg before even though the ball might have made a slight contact with the bat.
Left-arm pacer Sunil Kumar ousted Vidyadhar Patil as J&K maintained their upper hand.
But Nabi snuffed out any last vestiges of hope Karnataka entertained, pinging Agarwal’s pads and the DRS confirmed the hosts’ worst fears.
Asked how exciting was the prospect of lifting the trophy for the first time, J&K’s Sahil Lotra said, “This is just the beginning, we are all happy and excited, this is the first time we are playing in the finals, this is a very proud moment for us.
“We are just moving forward, the hard work we have put in this year, the discipline we have shown, this is the result of that.
Speaking about coach Ajay Sharma, Lotra said that always stays positive and wants the players to give their 100 percent at all times.
“The entire year, for the past six months, he has been making us practice, our net sessions. He has always said that there is tension outside, he just wants us to be 100% in the net and 100% in the match.
“He is always positive in the dressing room. Before and after Ajay sir’s arrival.”
When asked about the changes Sharma has brought into the team, Lotra said, “I think the main thing is discipline, because for the past four years, we have always had a three-month camp before the season. We play everywhere, whether it is in Kashmir or Jammu, we also go out to play tournaments, Buchi Babu.”
With one-and-half-days play still remaining in the match, Karnataka might have hoped to bowl out J&K cheaply and mount a fourth innings chase, as they had done a couple of times this season.
They started well too, reducing the opposition to 11 for two, but Iqbal added 61 runs for the third wicket with captain Paras Dogra and then milked 73 for the fourth wicket with Abdul Samad as J&K sped away.
Iqbal’s batting was quite entertaining as he often used the space inside the crease to give himself room, carting bowlers for boundaries.
It once irked Karnataka pacer Vysakh Vijayakumar, who verbally engaged with the batter and it required the intervention of on-field umpire Rohan Pandit.
On his part, Mayank praised Nabi for the manner in which has bowled and put Karnataka under pressure.
“He deserves the credit and the wickets. I think the good thing that he’s done is he’s challenged batsmen, he’s challenged the batsmen’s edges, both sides of the edges and also he’s kept very, very tight lines.
“So, keeps you under pressure. I won’t discuss about what I did because obviously…”
Mayank also said that the plan was to take it session by session when they batted.
“Well, very honestly, it was just about playing one hour, one session and take it session by session.
“The thought was that if we can play the first session without losing a wicket, then I know things could have changed a bit because the new ball would have been done.
“They would have been on the field for some time and when you play a session without losing a wicket, it starts to quietly put pressure on them.”
However, things panned out differently as Karnataka were bowled out under 300.
J&K CM in Hubballi
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday reached Hubballi to witness his team’s historical title winning moment, which should come at some point on Saturday.
The BCCI president Mithun Manhas, a former administrator of J&K cricket, who was present here from the first day, returned to the city and other top BCCI officials are also expected to join him.
Manhas has made a quick trip to Chennai to attend India’s T20 World Cup Super Eights match against Zimbabwe on Thursday.
