It was yet another slow grind by the Jammu & Kashmir batters as they slowly and steadily inched their way to a mammoth total. At stumps on the second day, Jammu & Kashmir reached 526 for six in 156 overs against Karnataka in the final of the Ranji Trophy at the KSCA Stadium in Hubli on Wednesday.
Bad light had forced the umpires to call off play with more than an hour’s play remaining. However, during the time play was possible, Jammu & Kasmir batters continued with their merry making. Barring opener Qamran Iqbal, the other six batters went on to make half-centuries with Shubham Pundir getting a century. Skipper Paras Dogra made 70 and Kanhaiya Wadhawan too helped himself to a same score.
No.7 bat Sahil Lotra is batting on 57 and giving him company is No.8 bat Abid Mushtaq on 20. With four wickets still in hand, Jammu & Kashmir will look to take the score as far as possible and, thereby, try to shut Karnataka out of the game.
With the wicket not lending the bowlers much support, Jammu & Kashmir bowlers too will have their task cut out. Hence, the longer they can bat, the better chance of upstaging Karnataka.
Resuming at their overnight score of 282 for two, Jammu & Kashmir lost both their overnight batters for the addition of just 25 runs.
Centurion Shubham Pundir added just 5 to his overnight 117 before he was out flicking to Aneesh at short square leg. His dismissal gave Vidyadhar Patil his first wicket. In the very next over, Abdul Samad nicked a peach from Prasidh, as J&K wobbled in the first hour of play.
Skipper Paras Dogra, who had to retire hurt on the first day, came in and steadied the innings. Seeing Dogra’s vulnerability against the short-ball, Karnataka made a sustained short-ball attack on him. The Jammu & Kashmir skipper continued to take blows on the body even as he looked extremely tentative. But through it all, Dogra showed tremendous grit to score a half-century.
J&K’s batters grind Karnataka attack to the dust, steal honours on Day 1 of final
Dogra’s resistance was vital because it came at a point where Karnataka seemed to be on the ascendancy. And just when it looked like the hosts seemed like clawing back, Dogra shut them out with his tenacious innings. Dogra – who went past the 10,000-run mark in the Ranji Trophy last week – passed 600 runs this season.
It helped Dogra to a great extent that Kanhaiya Wadhawan started quickly. Wadhawan kept pinching boundaries through slip and gully, while the bowlers went on a full-blown attack. To Wadhawan’s credit, he negated the movement with soft hands while also playing late.
Wadhawan got a reprieve on 31, when he was given out lbw while attempting to sweep legspinner Shreyas Gopal. However, the decision was overturned by DRS, as replays confirmed a tiny brush on the glove. Wadhawan went on to bring up a half-century, before more luck came his way when he was let off on 65 and 67.
Sahil Lotra went on to bring up his half-century and added 56 for the seventh wicket with allrounder Abid Mushtaq, when light deteriorated significantly in the final session.
SCOREBOARD
Jammu & Kashmir (1st Innings): Qamran Iqbal c Rahul b Prasidh 6, Yawer Hussain c Rahul b Prasidh 88, Shubham Pundir c sub (Aneesh) b Patil 121, Paras Dogra b Gopal 70, Abdul Samad c Krishna b Prasidh 61, Kanhaiya Wadhawan c Rahul b Shetty 70, Sahil Lotra (batting) 57, Abid Mushtaq (batting) 20; Extras: (B14, LB16, W4) 34. Total: (For six wickets in 156 overs) 527.
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-157, 3-303, 4-307, 5-417, 6-471.
Bowling: Vidyadhar Patil 29-2-104-1, Vijaykumar Vyshak 31-10-60-0, Prasidh Krishna 29-7-90-3, Shreyas Gopal 33-2-130-1, Shikhar Shetty 32-1-112-1, Karun Nair 2-1-1-0.
