Hubballi | India's latest pace sensation Aqib Nabi rocked Karnataka's star-studded top-order with a sensational opening spell as Jammu and Kashmir took a vice-like grip on the Ranji Trophy final despite Mayank Agarwal's defiant hundred here on Thursday.

At stumps on the third day, eight-time champions Karnataka were placed at 220 for five, trailing the visitors by 364 runs with Agarwal batting on 130 in the company of wicketkeeper Kruthik Krishna (27).

Nabi ended the day with impressive figures of 3/32 in 14 overs.

This was after Jammu and Kashmir, riding on Shubham Pundir's 121 in a collective batting effort, posted a mammoth first-innings total of 584 in their maiden Ranji final. Nabi, then, took centre stage.

Jammu and Kashmir were in the box seat once they put up a huge first-innings total, and Nabi then left the Karnataka batters searching for answers.

The 28-year-old Nabi, who dominated the season with over 55 wickets in nine games going into the summit showdown, including a 12-wicket match haul (7/40 & 5/70) against Madhya Pradesh in the quarter-final, got the ball to move away and nip back while also dishing out the occasional yorkers at a good pace.

Staking a claim for a place in the Indian team, Nabi landed the first big blow on Karnataka when he dismissed KL Rahul with a peach of a delivery.

Nabi squared up India Test star Rahul completely with late movement as the ball kissed the edge of the bat on its way to wicketkeeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan, whose loud appeal prompted skipper Paras Dogra to opt for a review after on-field umpire Rohan Pandit decided against raising his finger.

TV replays confirmed the edge, and Dogra was vindicated in going upstairs at the insistence of his keeper and bowler, resulting in a massive moment in the game just three minute before lunch.

Pumped up, Nabi grabbed two more wickets of successive balls in the second session to put his team on top. But before Nabi's double blow, left-arm seamer Sunil Kumar got the better of Karnataka captain Devdutt Padikkal.

Padikkal did not show great footwork as Kumar's back of a length delivery that moved slightly induced an edge for Abdul Samad to complete a fine catch in the slip cordon.

Unfazed by the loss of two big wickets, the seasoned Agarwal at the other end meant business as he went about his task in a thoroughly professional manner, finding the boundaries with some classic strokes.

Even as Agarwal stood firm, the home team lost two more wickets to the brilliant Nabi. He first cleaned up Karun Nair with another unplayable delivery that hit the off-stump after moving away on pitching, leaving the in-form batter clueless.

In walked Ravichandran Smaran, who averages 75 in First-Class cricket, but the middle-order batter's rich form and the incredible stats did not matter to Nabi, who sent him packing for a golden duck with a back of a length ball that straightened a bit after pitching.

Smaran was unsure whether to play or leave it, but the ball took the outside edge and went through to the keeper to leave Karnataka tottering at 57 for four in 18 overs.

Shreyas Gopal survived the hat-trick ball that hit him on the pad after swinging in sharply.

Gopal and Agarwal then steading the ship with a partnership of 105 runs for the fifth wicket, though J&K still had their nose ahead heading into the fourth and penultimate day's play.

Agarwal, who got a life on 124, then found an able ally in Krishna and added 58 runs for and unbroken sixth wicket.

Earlier, Pundir's hundred and half-centuries from Yawer Hassan (88), captain Dogra (70), Abdul Samad (61), Wadhawan (70) and Sahil Lotra (72) powered Jammu and Kashmir to a mammoth first-inning total.

Prasidh Krishna was the most successful bowler for Karnataka, returning figures of 5/98 in 34.1 overs after toiling for more than two full days.

J&K resumed the third day's play at 527/6 with Lotra and Abid Mushtaq at the crease.

Scoreboard at the end of day three of the Ranji Trophy final between Jammu and Kashmir and Karnataka, here on Thursday.

Jammu & Kashmir 1st Innings (Overnight 527/6; 156 overs) Qamran Iqbal c Rahul b Prasidh Krishna 6 Yawer Hassan c Rahul b Prasidh Krishna 88 Shubham Pundir c sub (KV Aneesh) b Patil 121 Paras Dogra b Gopal 70

Abdul Samad c Kruthik Krishna b Prasidh Krishna 61 Kanhaiya Wadhawan c Rahul b Shikhar Shetty 70 Sahil Lotra c Patil b Vyshak 72

Abid Mushtaq c Padikkal b Prasidh Krishna 28 Auqib Nabi c Kruthik Krishna b Prasidh Krishna 2 Yudhvir Singh run out (Padikkal) 30

Sunil Kumar not out 1

Extras: (b-14, lb-16, w-5) 35

Total: (All out in 173.1 overs) 584

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-157, 3-303, 4-307, 5-417, 6-471, 7-539, 8-543, 9-573 Bowling:

Vidyadhar Patil 32-2-116-1, Vijaykumar Vyshak 34-10-75-1, Prasidh Krishna 34.1-7-98-5, Shreyas Gopal 34-2-139-1, Shikhar Shetty 37-3-125-1, Karun Nair 2-1-1-0

Karnataka 1st Innings

KL Rahul c Wadhawan b Auqib Nabi 13

Mayank Agarwal batting 130

Devdutt Padikkal c Abdul Samad b Kumar 11 Karun Nair b Auqib Nabi 0

Ravichandran Smaran c Wadhawan b Auqib Nabi 0 Shreyas Gopal lbw b Yudhvir Singh 27

Kruthik Krishna batting 27

Extras: (lb-2, nb-10) 12

Total: (For Five Wickets in 69 overs) 220 Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-56, 3-57, 4-57, 5-162 Bowling: Auqib Nabi 14-3-32-3, Sunil Kumar 14-3-45-1, Yudhvir Singh 10-3-32-1, Abid Mushtaq 20-2-62-0, Sahil Lotra 9-0-42-0, Abdul Samad 2-0-5-0.