RANJI TROPHY FINAL | Super-efficient J & K makes Karnataka toil
Jammu & Kashmir put Karnataka through the wringer again as it reached 527 for six at stumps on day two of the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy final at the KSCA Rajnagar Stadium here on Wednesday.
It wasn’t a display of unqualified control and superiority but more like how weaver ants are super-efficient in their team work.
There were half-centuries for skipper Paras Dogra (70, 166b, 8×4), Kanhaiya Wadhawan (70, 109b, 9×4) and Sahil Lotra (57 batting, 93b, 7×4) as J & K added 243 runs to its overnight total before a combination of bad light and a drizzle brought an end to the proceedings 40 minutes before scheduled close.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Kanhaiya Wadhawan in action on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite 2025-26 final against Karnataka at the KSCA Rajnagar Stadium in Hubballi, on February 25, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
K. MURALI KUMAR
The morning began under partially cloudy skies and the previous night’s rain appeared to have rendered the outfield a tad sluggish. The Karnataka bowlers kept it tight, not allowing a boundary for nearly 40 minutes, as V. Vyshak bowled four straight maidens.
Though Abdul Samad pulled Vyshak for a four, it was far from pressure-releasing. Centurion Shubham Pundir (121, 247b, 12×4, 2×6) and Samad (61, 104b, 6×4, 1×6) fell in the span of six balls, with the former caught at square-leg off Vidyadhar Patil and the latter edging Prasidh Krishna behind.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Sahil Lotra after scoring his half-century on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite 2025-26 final against Karnataka at the KSCA Rajnagar Stadium in Hubballi, on February 25, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
K. MURALI KUMAR
Dogra, who had retired hurt on Tuesday, came in at 307 for four and the Karnataka pacers resumed their ploy of peppering him with bouncers. The close-in fielders joined in by being chirpy and even succeeded in provoking Dogra into head-butting substitute K.V. Aneesh — albeit, ever-so-slightly — at silly-point.
But the experienced man soon cleared the fog that had settled over his head and combined for 73 runs with Wadhawan to take J & K to 380 for four at lunch. Similar to the first day, Karnataka’s intensity dropped at an inopportune time, as Dogra and Wadhawan collected a series of fours through cover, backward-point and wide of the slip fielders.
However, Wadhawan fell trying one too many, as K.L. Rahul at slip latched on to a dab after a juggle. Dogra’s day, though, continued to be eventful when a bouncer from Vidyadhar ricocheted off his helmet, hit the stumps but couldn’t dislodge the bails.
Luck finally ran out when a defensive stroke to Shreyas Gopal ended with the cherry crashing into his stumps after bouncing off the ground.
Jammu and Kashmir’s captain Paras Dogra vainly tries to stop the ball from dislodging the bails off the bowling of Karnataka’s Shreyas Gopal, on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite 2025-26 final at the KSCA Rajnagar Stadium in Hubballi, on February 25, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
K. MURALI KUMAR
Amidst this chaos, Lotra kept his head, reaching an unbeaten 57, his first half-century of the season. A few more runs on Thursday will leave Karnataka with a mountain to climb in a final where the first-innings lead is seemingly all important now.
The scores: Jammu & Kashmir — 1st innings: Qamran Iqbal c Rahul b Prasidh 6, Yawer Hassan c Rahul b Prasidh 88, Shubham Pundir c sub (Aneesh) b Vidyadhar 121, Paras Dogra b Shreyas 70, Abdul Samad c Kruthik b Prasidh 61, Kanhaiya Wadhawan c Rahul b Shikhar 70, Sahil Lotra (batting) 57, Abid Mushtaq (batting) 20; Extras (b-14, lb-16, w-4): 34; Total (for six wkts. in 156 overs): 527.
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-157, 3-303, 4-307, 5-417, 6-471.
Karnataka bowling: Vidyadhar 29-2-104-1, Vyshak 31-10-60-0, Prasidh 29-7-90-3, Shreyas 33-2-130-1, Shikhar 32-1-112-1, Karun 2-1-1-0.
Published – February 25, 2026 08:08 pm IST
