Jammu and Kashmir took a step closer to their first Ranji Trophy triumph after finishing Day 4 on a dominant 186/4 to lead Hubli by 477 runs over Karnataka in the final at the KSCA Hubli Cricket Ground. Auqib Nabi Dar (5/54) and Qamran Iqbal (94*) have put their side in a commanding position as they stand on the verge of etching their names in the history books by lifting their maiden title.
On Day 4, Karnataka continued their first innings 220/5 with Mayank Agarwal not out on 130. Sahil Lotra provided the first breakthrough of the day for J&K by trapping Kruthik Krishna (36) in front of the stumps. Later, Sunil Kumar dismissed Vidyadhar Patil (11 off 23) to expose Karnataka’s tail.
Auqib Nabi returned to compound the hosts’ miserydismissing Mayank Agarwal (160) lbw. Nabi then removed Shikhar Shetty in his next over to complete his 16th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. The performance also saw Nabi become the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing Ranji Trophy with 60 wickets from 17 innings at an impressive average of 12.56, including seven five-wicket hauls this season.
Karnataka were bowled out for 293 in 93.3 overs thanks to their efforts, giving J&K a sizeable lead of 291 runs in the first innings. In the second innings, Jammu and Kashmir were rocked early as Prasidh Krishna smashed Yawer Hasan’s stumps in the second innings while Vijaykumar Vyshak dismissed centurion Shubham Pundir in the first innings for 4 (10).
Ranji Trophy: Karnataka vs Jammu and Kashmir highlights
Qamran Iqbal anchors J&K’s second innings
However, Qamran Iqbal calmed the nerves in the J&K camp and put together a half-century partnership with skipper Paras Dogra (16 off 59). Although the J&K captain lost his stumps to Krishna, Iqbal held firm at one end and continued to extend his side’s lead. He then formed another 73-run partnership with Abdul Samad (32 off 70) from 142 deliveries.
Iqbal approached his half-century in the final session and anchored J&K’s innings with a composed knock laced with five boundaries. The 24-year-old was just six runs short of completing his second first-class century when the umpires signaled stumps for the day. Iqbal (94*) and Sahil Lotra (16*) will continue J&K’s second innings on Day 5 as they aim to stretch the lead to an insurmountable margin for Karnataka.
– The end
Issued by:
Rishabh Beniwal
Published on:
27 Feb 2026 18:29 IST
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