Ranji Trophy: Karnataka needs something special on the final day to avoid early exit

Karnataka’s window of opportunity to qualify for the Ranji Trophy knockouts shrunk further at the I.S. Bindra PCA Stadium here on Saturday.

After dense fog delayed the start of play by more than two hours, the visitors, from an overnight 255 for six, huffed and puffed to go past Punjab’s 309 and take a narrow seven-run first-innings lead.

But with Saurashtra beating Chandigarh by an innings and 56 runs to go up to 26 points, and Madhya Pradesh defeating Maharashtra by 133 runs to finish on 28, Karnataka, currently on 21 points, will need an outright victory to earn at least six points and reach the quarterfinals.

However, going by day three’s proceedings, Karnataka will need a miracle. The hosts, in their second essay, batted resolutely to reach 119 for three, with skipper Uday Saharan (63 batting, 110b, 4×4, 2×6) and Anmolpreet Singh (six batting) at the crease.

Karnataka needed quick wickets, but Punjab negotiated 45 overs fairly easily.

Captain Devdutt Padikkal shook up his tactics board by opening the bowling with left-arm spinner Shikhar Shetty and even stationing himself near the boundary behind the slip fielders to pacer Prasidh Krishna.

But it all came to nothing. The spin trio of Shikhar, Shreyas Gopal and Mohsin Khan accounted for all three scalps, but whatever turn was on offer, it wasn’t enough to ruffle the opposition batters.

Earlier in the morning Shreyas, with his fifth Ranji half-century of the season (77, 195b, 6×4), played a big hand in Karnataka upstaging Punjab’s score.

Speedster Sukhdeep Bajwa bowled a fiery spell and bounced out both Vidyadhar Patil (34, 83b, 6×4) and Shikhar (1, 7b).

But Shreyas carried on, and seemed on course for a fine century, only for Bajwa to pluck the ball out of thin air at long-on and end the 32-year-old’s stay.

Now, without the potential run cushion Shreyas could have offered, Karnataka needs to produce something magical to avoid a second straight Ranji Trophy group-stage finish.

The scores: Punjab — 1st innings: 309.

Karnataka — 1st innings: K.L. Rahul b Harpreet 59, Mayank Agarwal c Jashanpreet b Emanjot 46, K.V. Aneesh c Prabhsimran b Harpreet 32, Devdutt Padikkal c Jashanpreet b Harpreet 9, R. Smaran lbw b Harpreet 9, Shreyas Gopal c Bajwa b Anmoljeet 77, Kruthik Krishna lbw b Bajwa 28, Vidyadhar Patil c Anmol b Bajwa 34, Shikhar Shetty c Harpreet b Bajwa 1, Mohsin Khan b Anmoljeet 10, Prasidh Krishna (not out) 3; Extras: (b-2, lb-5, w-1): 8; Total (in 110.2 overs): 316.

Fall of wickets: 1-102, 2-119, 3-137, 4-151, 5-166, 6-213, 7-279, 8-281, 9-307.

Punjab bowling: Goyal 3-1-8-0, Bajwa 16-6-42-3, Harpreet 39-6-125-4, Emanjot 27-7-65-1, Anmoljeet 24.2-5-62-2, Saharan 1-0-7-0.

Punjab — 2nd innings: Abhijeet Garg c Prasidh b Shreyas 33, Prabhsimran Singh lbw b Shikhar 11, Uday Saharan (batting) 63, Jashanpreet Singh c Rahul b Mohsin 5, Anmolpreet Singh (batting) 6; Extras: (lb-1): 1; Total (for three wkts. in 45 overs): 119.

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-70, 3-87.

Karnataka bowling: Shikhar 18-4-43-1, Vidyadhar 3-0-11-0, Prasidh 4-2-10-0, Shreyas 9-2-25-1, Mohsin 11-2-29-1.

Published – January 31, 2026 08:48 pm IST