Karnataka 220 for 5 (Mayank 130*, Kruthik 27*, Nabi 3-32) trail Jammu & Kashmir 584 (Pundir 121, Hassan 88, Dogra 70, Wadhawan 70, Prasidh 5-98) by 364 runs
Can Auqib Nabi prise out wickets on a flat deck offering little assistance to the seamers? Can he unsettle Karnataka's formidable "Test top order" of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair? Did he peak too early, by picking up 21 wickets combined in the quarterfinal and semi-final? Will the weight of carrying Jammu & Kashmir's attack all season take a toll in a high-pressure game?
There were so many questions. And Nabi answered them the only way he knows how: quietly, without fuss, and with the ball in hand, after J&K posted an imposing 584 to effectively reduce the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy final to a one-innings shootout.
On a surface that hardly showed signs of breaking up just yet, Nabi's accuracy, late movement and relentlessness cracked the game open to turn the finale decisively towards J&K. In an incredible second spell with a ball that hadn't yet lost its sheen, his wickets of Rahul, Karun and R Smaran - the season's highest run-scorer - in the space of four overs on either side of lunch left Karnataka in tatters at 57 for 4.
Then, Agarwal dug in with steely resolve across the next two sessions to make a resolute unbeaten 130, his 21st first-class century, to keep Karnataka alive in the contest. He found an unlikely but vital ally in rookie wicketkeeper Kruthik Krishna. Together, they negotiated 20.4 tense overs to stall what had looked like an impending lower-order collapse after Shreyas Gopal fell for 27, ending a crucial 105-run partnership.
Karnataka closed the third day on 220 for 5, still 364 runs behind J&K, with only the bowlers to come. Vijaykumar Vyshak does have a first-class hundred to his name, but that hardly disguises the scale of the task they have at hand. When play resumes on Friday, Karnataka will be staring at something akin to Mount Everest. With so much time already lost in the match, a first-innings lead could well prove decisive either way.
After some tense exchanges between both sides on Tuesday, cricket was properly back to the forefront on the third day. And it was about two fast bowlers: Prasidh Krishna, having already broken through the India ranks, and Nabi, literally hammering on the doors of national selection.
Having already picked up three wickets across the first two days, Prasidh began by dismissing Abid Mushtaq with a bumper that he miscued to mid-on for 28. Then in his next over, he had Nabi nick off for 2. It was a bizarre dismissal in the way it played out. Perhaps expecting a short ball, Nabi decided to duck, only for this to be speared full as the ball took the edge of his dangling bat to the wicketkeeper.
By the time Yudhvir Singh was run out to be the last man dismissed, J&K had added 57 to their overnight total, finishing with 584. Prasidh aside, each of the other frontline bowlers had one wicket apiece. Vyshak perhaps the most unlucky of the lot, finished with 1 for 75 - the wicket of Sahil Lotra for 72 as he top-edged a bouncer to fine leg - off 34 overs.
Karnataka played out three maiden overs, and after starting by erring on the shorter side, Nabi's first full delivery in his second over had Rahul thoroughly squared up and beaten. It didn't take him long to find the outside edge, a decision overturned on DRS after he was initially given not out as the hosts were rocked just before lunch for 12. Rahul was squared up again, and the appreciable late movement helped kiss the faintest of edges.
Devdutt Padikkal and Agarwal tried to negate Nabi's late movement by walking down the pitch and then covering the line before defending. While Padikkal looked assured against Nabi, it was almost as if Sunil Kumar, the left-arm seamer, sprung up on him unnoticed. Poking at a delivery that zipped through, Padikkal got a healthy edge through to Abdul Samad who pouched a fine, low catch at slip.
The magic was just about to unfold.
Karun walked in at No. 4 with a mountain to climb. Last year, he played two clutch knocks to help Vidarbha clinch a thriller against Kerala. Now having to rescue his team from a crisis, he leaned in to play a straight one only for Nabi to jag the ball away off the seam to beat the outside edge and crash into the stumps. Nabi's angles were at play, and quite sensationally. Next ball, Smaran, closing in on 1000 runs for the season, nibbled at an away-swinger to nick off to Kanhaiya Wadhawan behind the stumps. It was full-blown mayhem for Karnataka.
For Agarwal, this season has been anything but smooth. The captaincy was stripped from him mid-campaign, officially part of a move to groom a younger leader, though form was widely cited as a factor. Such upheaval can weigh heavily. Yet on Thursday, he shut out the noise. There were uneasy moments early, passages where he looked as vulnerable as anyone against Nabi.
Once set, he unfurled drives and punches of rare assurance from a senior pro standing firm amid the wreckage around him. For a better part of the second session, he had Gopal for company, and he was happy to play the role of a support cast until a grave mistake of playing around his front pad to Yudhvir cost him his wicket. On 86 at tea, Agarwal brought up his century in quick time in the final session even as he battled cramps on what was a searingly hot day.
On 124, Agarwal had a reprieve as he jabbed at a sharp-turner from left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq as substitute keeper Dikshanth Kundal put down a straightforward chance. That was the luck Agarwal perhaps needed for the toil that saw him finish 130, with plenty of support from Kruthik, who finished 27 not out to ensure Karnataka lived to fight another day.
