Hubballi (Karnataka), February 27 A disciplined bowler, Auqib Nabi, and an unconventional opener, Qamran Iqbal, combined their skills to put Jammu and Kashmir in a strong position to win their maiden Ranji Trophy title against Karnataka on the penultimate day of the five-day final here on Friday.
Iqbal (94 not out) scored his seventh century in first-class cricket as Jammu and Kashmir reached 186 for four at the close of their second innings, giving them a lead of 477 runs.
Earlier in the day, Nabi took his seventh five-wicket haul (5/54) as J&K bowled out Karnataka for 293, gaining a lead of 291 runs.
Karnataka's first innings was dominated by a valiant 160 off 266 balls by former captain Mayank Agarwal, but in the context of the match, this innings was not particularly significant.
Nabi was the key to restricting Agarwal's fine hundred. Once Karnataka resumed from an overnight score of 220 for five, Nabi's bowlers were in top form.
While overhauling J&K's 584 was unlikely, Karnataka's realistic hope was to reduce 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 track, adding over 80 runs for the sixth wicket.
However, J&K's savior returned when the second new ball was taken.
But before Nabi could inflict the biggest blow, Sahil Lotra dismissed Kruthik, getting him out leg before wicket, even though the ball might have made slight contact with the bat.
Left-arm pacer Sunil Kumar dismissed Vidyadhar Patil, maintaining J&K's advantage.
However, Nabi extinguished any remaining hope that Karnataka had, hitting Agarwal's pads and the DRS confirmed the hosts' worst fears.
With just over a day and a half 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, reducing the opposition to 11 for two, but Iqbal added 61 runs for the third wicket with captain Paras Dogra and then scored 73 for the fourth wicket with Abdul Samad, allowing J&K to gain a significant advantage.
Iqbal's batting was particularly entertaining as he often used the space inside the crease to create room for himself, hitting the bowlers for boundaries.
This even irked Karnataka pacer Vysakh Vijayakumar, who verbally engaged with Iqbal, and it required the intervention of on-field umpire Rohan Pandit.
J&K CM in Hubballi
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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah arrived in Hubballi on Friday to witness his team's historic title-winning moment, which is expected to occur on Saturday.
BCCI president Mithun Manhas, a former administrator of J&K cricket, who was present from the first day, returned to the city, and other top BCCI officials are also expected to join him.
Manhas had made a quick trip to Chennai to attend India's T20 World Cup Super Eights match against Zimbabwe on Thursday.
