Lucknow: Auqib Nabi claimed a nine-wicket match haul to go with a counter-attacking 42 at No.9 to put Jammu and Kashmir on the cusp of a first-ever Ranji Trophy final appearance after bundling out Bengal for 99 on day three in Kalyani on Tuesday.
Even a superb effort from an out-of-favour Mohammed Shami, who returned with career-best figures of 8/90 from 22.1 overs, could not prevent Bengal’s slide as the home team collapsed inexplicably in a little over one session, lasting just 25.1 overs.
Set a modest 126-run target, Jammu and Kashmir reached 43/2 at stumps, needing 83 more runs with two full days remaining.
Meanwhile in Lucknow, eight-time champions Karnataka helped themselves to a dominant position against hosts Uttarakhand in the other semi-final.
First, Karnataka batters underlined their prowess with one double century, two centuries and three half-centuries in the first two days of the five-day encounter, helping the side amass a colossal 736. Then, their bowlers left their opponents at 149/5 in the first innings.
Karnataka’s 736 in the first innings is their third highest total in Ranji Trophy after notching up 791 against Bengal in 1990-91 and 762 against Tamil Nadu in 2014-15.
Resuming at 689/6 with Ravichandran Smaran (121) and Vidyadhar Patil (35) in the middle, the remaining four Karnataka batters could add 102 runs. Bowling all-rounder Patil struck his maiden first-class half-century, striking 54 with the help of two boundaries and a six. There was some relief to Uttarakhand’s leading bowler of the season Mayank Mishra, who removed three tailenders.
In fact, much was expected from the slow turf of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, when Uttarakhand batters began the run-chase, but it turned out to be quite an upsetting start for the home side. They lost opener Prashant Chopra (5) to Vidyadhar Patil who struck again in the 16th over, inducing a faint tickle from Bhupen Lalwani (15) on a harmless leg-stump line, caught behind by Kruthik Krishna.
At 37/2, trailing by 699, Uttarakhand’s top order crumbled. Vijaykumar Vyshak joined the party, bowling Avneesh Sudha (27) with a short-of-length pearler that straightened just enough to shatter the off stump, leaving Uttarakhand struggling at 61/3.
Leg spinner Shreyas Gopal then foxed captain Kunal Chandela (12) with a dipping full ball that straightened and took the outside edge to slip. By tea break, Uttarakhand limped to 86/4 as Karnataka’s seam-spin combo exploited the wearing surface, taking all four wickets in the session.
In the final session, Prasidh Krishna, bowling around the wicket, squared up former Karnataka allrounder Jagadeesha Suchith (21) with a straightening short ball. Karnataka could have taken one more wicket in the penultimate over of the day’s play when KL Rahul dropped Saurabh Rawat at slips off Gopal.
For Uttarakhand, young Lakshya Raichandani provided resistance, grinding out a gritty fifty off the final ball, unbeaten amid cautious partners. The 17-year-old batter, who scored a half-century each against Tripura and Assam in the league phase, struck 10 boundaries in his unbeaten 166-ball 52, his third half-century in first-class cricket.
Brief scores: Karnataka 1st innings 736 in 194.4 overs (D Padikkal 232, KL Rahul 141, R Smaran 135, K Nair 60, K Krishna 60, V Patil 54, A Rawat 4/154, M Mishra 3/173) vs Uttarakhand 149/5 in 69 overs (L Raichandani 52*, A Sudha 27, J Suchith 21, V Patil 2/26).
