Srinagar, February 28: J&K started Ranji Trophy on a dominating note with an 8-wicket win over Pondicherry. It gave them the much-needed confidence but not much later, they produced a forgettable show against star-studded Karnataka in the second match.
As this year Ranji Trophy was reduced to four-team groups, only one team from each Elite Group will make it to the quarter-final. J&K is right now at number second in Group ’C’ with 6 points under their belt while Karnataka (9 points) is at the top.
ELITE GROUP C
| POS | TEAM | MAT | WON | LOST | TIED | NR | QUOTIENT | FOR | AGAINST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karnataka | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.416 | 1304/32 | 978/34 | 9 |
| 2 | J & K | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.922 | 954/32 | 1067/33 | 6 |
| 3 | Railways | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.131 | 1020/23 | 1254/32 | 4 |
| 4 | Pondicherry | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.649 | 1017/33 | 996/21 | 1 |
While Karnataka, who will face a relatively weaker side Pondicherry, in their last group match is most likely to go to the second round, J&K also has a chance to make it to the knockouts. Here’s how:
- Scenario 1: If J&K beats Railways and Pondicherry wins against Karnataka, J&K will have 12 points and will hence qualify.
- Scenario 2: If J&K beats Railways and Karnataka gets first-innings lead against Pondicherry, both J&K and Karnataka will have 12 points. It will mean J&K qualifying for the next round as they will have more outright wins (2) than Karnataka (1). (In Ranji Trophy, if two teams have similar points, the number of outright wins decides who qualifies for the next round).
In any case if J&K has to qualify, they must beat Railways and Karnataka must not post an outright win against Pondicherry in the last group match, which starts from March 03.