Hubli, February 24 – Riding on the composed batting of Yawer Hassan and Shubham Pundir, Jammu & Kashmir reached 104/1 at lunch on the first day of the Ranji Trophy final against eight-time champions Karnataka at the Hubli Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
Jammu & Kashmir had a good start after opting to bat first. Openers Qamran Iqbal and Yawer Hassan had a challenging time against the new ball, but they managed to survive the first 10 overs before Iqbal was dismissed by Prasidh Krishna for six runs. However, Hassan (57 not out) continued with solid support from Shubham Pundir (38 not out) on the other end. The duo put together an 86-run partnership for the second wicket when lunch was called.
Vidhyadhar Patil and Vyshak Vijay Kumar started the attack for the hosts. Both pacers have generated enough movement from the pitch. Karnataka had a strong appeal for a caught behind when Qamran tried to defend on the front foot, and the umpire raised his finger without hesitation.
However, Qamran had a chat with Yawer and challenged the decision with just two seconds remaining on the timer. This showed there was a significant gap between the bat and the ball, and the umpire overturned the decision.
The first breakthrough for Karnataka came after 45 minutes of play when Prasidh Krishna dismissed Qamran. The opener was struggling, with his feet often prodding and charging forward against Vidhyadhar Patil in the first spell from this end. Just as he seemed to be settling in, he failed to account for the extra bounce from Prasidh, handing a simple catch to KL Rahul at second slip.
After Qamran's dismissal, the J&K batsman played cautiously, occasionally punishing the loose balls. Yawer, who has been dismissed a few times but has looked the more assured batsman, reached his maiden First Class half-century with a single off Shreyas Gopal in the 27th over.
Pundir and Yawer were constantly adding runs, and J&K reached 100 before lunch, while Karnataka were slightly unlucky, as their three pacers have bowled disciplined spells but managed only one wicket, leaving J&K comfortably placed at 104/1 at lunch.
Brief scores: Jammu & Kashmir 104/1 (Yawer Hassan 57 and Shubham Pundir 38; Prasidh Krishna 1-20) against Karnataka at Lunch
