CHENNAI: Karnataka reduced Jammu & Kashmir to 190 for 4 in the second innings having set them a mammoth 508-run target on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match on Saturday.
Skipper Ian Dev Singh Chauhan (batting on 65) and Abdul Samad (21 batting) were at the crease with J & K needing a further 318 runs for an unlikely win.
Prasidh Krishna, who had taken six wickets in J&K’s first innings, got the first breakthrough for Karnataka with the scalp of Qamran Iqbal (4).
Shreyas Gopal picked up two wickets – Jatin Wadhwan (15) and Shubham Singh Pundir (9) to reduce the opposition to 57 for 3 before Fazil Rashid (65) and Ian Singh fought back with a 79-run stand for the fourth wicket.
After the exit of Rashid, the J & K captain and the highly rated Abdul Samad put on 63 runs and ensured that there were no further setbacks for the team.
Earlier, resuming at 128 for 2, Karnataka went on the offensive and added 170 runs in 29 overs with Karun Nair adding 71 (not out) to his brilliant knock of 175 in the first innings and K V Siddharth hitting 72.
In the other match in the group, Railways secured the crucial first innings lead by replying with 525 for 9 at stumps against Pondicherry, which had scored 342.
Arindam Ghosh, who scored a ton in the first match last week, continued his good run, making 100 while Mohammed Saif fell agonisingly short of ton, being dismissed for 99.
Ghosh and Saif added 146 runs in 276 balls and took the game away from Pondicherry, whose bowlers had kept the Railways batters in check on Friday.
Brief scores: Stumps Day 3 : Karnataka 302 all out in 103.1 overs 298 for 3 declared in 71 overs (K V Siddharth 72, Karun Nair 71 not out, R Samarth 62, Abid Mushtaq 3 for 65) vs Jammu and Kashmir 93 all out in 29.5 overs (Prasidh Krishna 6 for 35) and 190 for four in 59 overs (Fazil Rashid 65 (140b, 8×4, 2×6), Ian Dev Singh Chauhan 65 batting (114b, 8×4, 2×6), Shreyas Gopal three for 90).
Pondicherry 342 vs Railways 525 for nine in 151.4 overs (Vivek Singh 92, Shivam Chaudhary 51, Arindam Ghosh 100 (193b, 12×4, 2×6), Mohammad Saif 99 (190b, 7×4, 3×6), Upendra Yadav 60 (82b, 9×4, 1×6), Yuvraj Singh 46, Sagar Udeshi three for 144, Pavan Deshpande two for 74). (Agencies)