Ranji Trophy | Karnataka on course for first innings lead but it may not be enough to take it to the knockouts

Karnataka struggles for a first-innings lead in the Ranji Trophy, needing more to secure knockout qualification.

At the end of another topsy-turvy day, Karnataka finished on 255 for six, in response to Punjab’s 309, at the I.S. Bindra PCA Stadium here on Friday.

But to qualify for the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy knock-outs from Elite Group-B, Karnataka (21 points) needs more than just the first-innings lead, for Saurashtra (19) is on course for a big win over Chandigarh, and a result looks increasingly likely in the match involving Madhya Pradesh (22) and Maharashtra (24).

When K.L. Rahul (59, 87b, 9x4) and Mayank Agarwal (46, 64b, 6x4) were batting, the visitors looked very much like the men capable of forcing that result. After pacer Vidyadhar Patil excised the last Punjab wicket in the very first over of the morning, Rahul and Mayank batted with conviction and ease.

There were the odd instances of the pair not picking arm balls from the left-arm spin duo of Harpreet Brar and Emanjot Chahal, but they were mostly comfortable. And it showed in the shots they played — pleasing drives, inch-perfect cuts and fierce straight hits after dancing down the track.

But two moments of brilliance from Punjab sent both batters back. First, Jashanpreet Singh at silly-point latched on to a full-blooded drive from Mayank before Harpreet executed a classic left-armer’s dismissal by uprooting Rahul’s middle-stump.

Post-lunch, Harpreet (four for 101) struck twice in quick succession, having skipper Devdutt Padikkal (9) caught at short-leg — the southpaw’s third straight low score in whites — and trapping R. Smaran (9) leg-before.