Jammu & Kashmir won the toss and elected to bat first in their first even Ranji Trophy final. On a friendly surface, they started with caution as Karnataka’s pace spearhead Prasidh Krishna provided an early breakthrough by dismissing Qamran Iqbal (6) in the 11th over, with KL Rahul taking a sharp catch at second slip. Then Yawer Hassan and Shubham Pundir showed resistance and started building the innings for Jammu & Kashmir. They went to Lunch with 104/1 on board.

The next session was a story of resilience as Hassan and Pundir continued to show composure and carried the innings with absolute brilliance. They stitched together a vital 139-run partnership for the second wicket before Hassan was dismissed for a well-made 88. He looked set for a century but was eventually trapped LBW by Prasidh Krishna. However, by end of second session, Jammu and Kashmir looked comfortably placed at 178/2.

The final session saw a well-deserved century by Shubham Pundir. He reached his fourth first-class century with a towering six over deep mid-wicket and became the first player from Jammu & Kashmir to score a hundred in a Ranji final.

Paras Dogra, the Jammu & Kashmir captain was retired hurt (9) after being struck on the forearm by a bounder from Vijaykumar Vyshak. Thankfully, the moment passed as Abul Samad walked in with confidence to immediately shift the gears. He remained unbeaten on 52 off 67, decorated with five fours and one maximum. At the other end, Shubham Pundir stood tall with 117 not out at the stumps.

For the Karnataka bowlers, it was a tough day at work. They struggled to find breakthroughs on a track that had little assistance for the spinners on Day 1. The remarkable performance and composure from the Jammu & Kashmir top-order batters made the work tougher for the Karnataka bowling attack featuring Prasidh Krishna, Shreyas Gopal, and Vidwath Kaverappa.

Brief Scores: Jammu & Kashmir 284 for 2 (Pundir 117*, Yawer 88, Samad 52*, Prasidh 2-36) vs Karnataka