Hubballi (Karnataka), Feb 27 A disciplined pacer, 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 stumps in 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, giving them an innings lead of 291 runs.
Karnataka's first innings was dominated by former captain Mayank Agarwal, who scored 160 off 266 balls, but in the context of the match, his innings was relatively insignificant.
Nabi was the key to restricting Agarwal's fine hundred. Once Karnataka resumed play after the overnight score of 220 for five, Nabi and his bowlers were in control.
While it was not possible to overhaul J&K's 584, Karnataka's realistic hope was to minimize the deficit as much as possible and then try to chase a reasonable target in the fourth innings.
Agarwal and Kruthik Krishna (36) had added over 80 runs for the sixth wicket.
However, J&K's key players returned to the field when the second new ball was brought into play.
Before Nabi could make a significant impact, Sahil Lotra dismissed Kruthik, getting him out leg before wicket, even though the ball might have only made slight contact with the bat.
Left-arm pacer Sunil Kumar dismissed Vidyadhar Patil as J&K maintained their advantage.
Nabi then dismissed Agarwal, and the DRS confirmed the hosts' worst fears.
When asked about the prospect of winning 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. It 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, "He always stays positive and wants the players to give their 100 percent at all times. He wants us to be 100% in the net and 100% in the match. He is always positive in the dressing room, before and after."
When asked about the changes Sharma has brought into the team, Lotra said, "I think the main thing is discipline. 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 just over a day of play remaining, 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 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.
This frustrated Karnataka pacer Vysakh Vijayakumar, who verbally engaged with the batter, and it required the intervention of on-field umpire Rohan Pandit.
Mayank praised Nabi for the manner in which he 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, he 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 for under 300.
J&K CM in Hubballi
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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.
