Hubballi, February 24 A masterful unbeaten century from Shubham Pundir and a tenacious 88 from young Yawer Hassan saw Jammu & Kashmir seize control of the Ranji Trophy final, ending the opening day at a solid 284 for two and leaving Karnataka's bowlers searching for answers here on Tuesday.
Pundir, the 27-year-old left-handed batter, was not out at 117, and he was joined by Abdul Samad on 52, with the pair adding 105 runs for the third wicket after captain Paras Dogra retired due to injury.
This followed Pundir and Yawer putting together a stand of 139 runs to set the stage for a big total against the eight-time champions, whose batters have a strong record at this venue.
Pundir reached his hundred in style, smashing Shikhar Shetty for a six over deep mid-wicket. He celebrated reaching the milestone by removing his helmet and raising his arms in the direction of the dressing room.
Earlier, on a pitch that is likely to deteriorate as the game progresses, Jammu and Kashmir won the toss and Dogra's decision to bat first was expected.
Playing in their maiden Ranji final after an inspiring run that saw them win away victories against established teams such as Madhya Pradesh and Bengal in the knockout stages, J&K lost Qamran Iqbal (6) early.
The opener edged a delivery from Prasidh Krishna that straightened slightly to induce an outside edge for KL Rahul, who completed a comfortable catch in the slips.
The lack of foot movement from Qamran contributed to the day's first wicket, but J&K's decision to bat first was vindicated by Yawer and Pundir, who carried the team to 104 for one at lunch.
Yawer was unbeaten on 57 at the lunch break, and Pundir was on 38 as the pair batted with confidence to keep the experienced Karnataka bowling attack at bay.
It was not easy out there in the middle, with numerous plays and misses, and a few streaky edges too, but both Yawer and Pundir successfully defended against the new ball.
Yawer and Pundir may not have looked the most fluent, but they were effective nonetheless, stitching together a big partnership for the second wicket while keeping the scoreboard ticking at around three runs per over.
The Karnataka bowlers – the three pacers and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal – were disciplined with their line and length, but didn't get any reward for their perseverance. Shreyas, the season's leading wicket-taker with 55 scalps heading into the title clash, also missed a few edges, but did not taste success, even as Yawer and Pundir looked to target him with a determination to prevent him from settling into a nice rhythm.
The 22-year-old Yawer, who made his First Class debut in former India captain Rohit Sharma's last red-ball game in 2025 and had gone nine games without a fifty, chose the big occasion to showcase his talent, and he hit the boundary 13 times.
However, having done all the hard work with Pundir while approaching his maiden hundred, Yawer fell to Prasidh, prodding at a delivery outside off-stump to give a catch to Rahul at first slip. Both dismissals for the day were similar in nature.
Before making the breakthrough, Prasidh had tested Yawer with a bouncer that hit the batter on the body, requiring medical attention.
Captain Dogra was hit on his neck by a sharp bouncer from Prasidh, after which the seamer appealed for a catch at forward short-leg, thinking that the ball may have grazed the glove, but replays showed that it did not and the batter was safe.
However, Dogra, while attempting to fend off the bouncer, did get hurt, and the physio was called in to apply an ice pack.
The J&K physio was summoned again after some time with the ice pack to tend to Dogra, who had by then taken a few blows, and this time the captain was on his way back to the dressing room after receiving a signal from coach Ajay Sharma, paving the way for Samad's entry into the middle.
Pundir and Samad then batted with ease to accumulate runs and consolidate J&K's position with their unbroken century partnership.
