Gowtham's seven-wicket haul helps Karnataka seal semifinal spot

Off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham snapped seven wickets as Karnataka sealed their place in the semifinals after thrashing Jammu and Kashmir by 167 runs on the final day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, here on Monday.

Resuming the day at 245 for four, Karnataka added another 71 runs before folding for 316 in their second innings, setting the hosts a target of 331.

Jammu and Kashmir were bundled out for 163, courtesy off-spinner Gowtham's (7/54) seven-wicket haul.

Earlier, Abid Mushtaq (6/83) claimed six wickets, Parvez Rasool (3/88) took three and Mujtaba Yousuf (1/44) dismissed one Karnataka batsman.

Overnight batsman Krishnamurthy Siddharth (98) missed out on a well-deserved century, dismissed by Mushtaq in the 80th over.

His wicket triggered a collapse as Karnataka kept losing wickets regularly. Srinivas Sharath (34) held on to one end and took the team across the 300-mark before departing in the 105th over.

Chasing 331 to win, opener Shubham Khajuria (30), middle-order batsman Shubham Pundir (31) and tail-enders Aquib Nabi (26) and Umar Nazir (24) tried their bit but none of them could stay longer to raise any hope of a successful chase.

Brief Score:
Karnataka 1st innings: 206 all out in 69.1 overs
J&K 1st innings: 192 all out in 62.4 overs (SP Khajuria 62, Abdul Samad 43; M Prasidh Krishna 4/42)