Rain denied Madhya Pradesh a win after it put defending champion Jammu and Kashmir on the ropes in their Ranji Trophy Group-A fixture at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium on Wednesday.

After the draw, M.P. took three points by virtue of its first-innings lead.

Shubham Sharma’s unbeaten 106 (200b, 7×4, 3×6) and a ruthless display by the pace attack, led by Avesh Khan, had put M.P. on course for all six points. But overnight rain delayed the start on the final day, and further showers threatened to thwart its bid for a win.

Auqib Nabi struck early to dismiss Atharva Mahajan, but J&K failed to build on the breakthrough. Wayward bowling and sloppy fielding allowed Shubham to settle in and dictate terms.

The M.P. captain added an unbroken 87-run stand with Saransh Jain, who made a brisk 35 (33b, 5×4). While Saransh attacked, Shubham rotated the strike before shifting gears against left-arm spinner Vanshaj Sharma, striking two sixes and a four to bring up his century.

M.P. declared at 249 for six, setting J&K a target of 326.

The chase fell apart almost immediately.

Avesh (three for 30) removed the out-of-form Shubham Khajuria off the fifth ball of his opening over, and Aryan Pandey (three for 31) bowled Shubham Pundir in the next. Avesh then dismissed Qamran Iqbal and Abdul Samad, while Aryan had captain Paras Dogra caught behind as J&K slumped to 12 for five.

Kanhaiya Wadhawan (27 n.o., 51b, 3×4) and Nasir Lone tried to steady the innings before a thumb injury forced Wadhawan to sit out.

When the weather brightened for the final half-hour, M.P. pushed desperately for a win, but Nabi (30 n.o., 32b, 4×4, 2×6) and Wadhawan, who came back to bat later, dug in to deny the visitor.

M.P. will rue a win lost to rain after leaving J&K reeling.

The scores: Madhya Pradesh — 1st innings: 196.

J&K — 1st innings: 120.

Madhya Pradesh — 2nd innings: Harsh Gawli c Iqbal b Nabi 11, Yash Dubey c Wadhawan b Sunil 22, Himanshu Mantri c Pundir b Nabi 0, Shubham Sharma (not out) 106, Chanchal Rathore c Samad b Sunil 8, Aryan Pandey c Pundir b Rohit 17, Atharva Mahajan c Samad b Nabi 39, Saransh Jain (not out) 35; Extras (lb-4, nb-7): 11; Total (for six wkts. in 80 overs decl.) 249.

Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-30, 3-40, 4-56, 5-87, 6-162.

J&K bowling: Nabi 22-4-53-3, Sunil 25-5-56-2, Rohit 17-4-51-1, Vanshaj 6-0-35-0, Nasir 10-0-50-0.

J&K — 2nd innings: Qamran Iqbal c Mantri b Avesh 4, Shubham Khajuria c Mantri b Avesh 0, Shubham Pundir b Aryan 4, Paras Dogra c Mantri b Aryan 4, Abdul Samad lbw b Avesh 0, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (not out) 27, Nasir Lone lbw b Aryan 13, Vanshaj Sharma b Ravi Kiran 6, Auqib Nabi (not out) 30; Total (for seven wkts. in 34 overs) 88.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-6, 3-8, 4-12, 5-12, 6-51, 7-75.

MP bowling: Avesh 10-2-30-3, Aryan 10-4-31-3, Akshay 5-2-6-0, Ravi Kiran 4-2-5-1, Saransh 4-1-16-0, Shubham 1-1-0-0.

Published – October 14, 2026 06:34 pm IST

East Zone’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, bowls during the Duleep Trophy 2026 QuarterFinal 1 against North East Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) grounds, in Bengaluru on August 25, 2026.
| Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR

At the helm: Ruturaj will marshal West Zone’s resources.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: NIRMAL HARINDRAN

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.

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.

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.

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