LUCKNOW: Senior opener KL Rahul (141) and skipper Devdutt Padikkal (148 batting) slammed big hundreds and powered Karnataka to a commanding 355 for two on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Uttarakhand here on Sunday.
Uttarakhand captain Kunal Chandela won the toss and opted to field first, but his decision did not yield the desired result for his team as Karnataka saw two of their top batters torment the opposition bowlers with their high-quality batting.
Coming off his brilliant century in Karnataka’s victory over Mumbai in the quarterfinals, Rahul, India’s Test and ODI specialist, constructed another magnificent innings that was built on the back of a fine mix of aggression and caution.
Rahul made 141 off 211 balls, decorating his 25th First-Class century with 11 fours and five sixes, the number of maximums clearly indicating that he was open to take the aerial route when presented with an opportunity.
Padikkal was batting on 148 off 236 balls when the stumps were drawn on the first day’s play at the Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Karun Nair, the eight-time Ranji champions’ other major batter, was giving Padikkal company with an unbeaten 37 at the close of play.
During his stay in the middle, Padikkal struck 16 boundaries and two sixes, and he will look to continue in same fashion on the second day.Bengal reaches 249 for 5 vs J&K
A determined Sudip Gharami was patience personified as he carried from where he had left off in the quarterfinal with his second successive ton taking Bengal to 249 for 5 against Jammu and Kashmir .
The dismissal of a set Shahbaz Ahmed (42 off 91 balls) at the fag end of the day, an in-cutter from leftarm seamer Sunil Kumar, will give J&K an opportunity to press home the advantage at the start of the second day when the new ball will be due after the last delivery of the 80th over is sent down.
Having batted 15-and-a-half hours for his match-winning 299 against Andhra in the quarterfinal, Gharami took fresh guard but seemed to have taken off from the previous game with an unbeaten 136 runs off 227 balls.
Gharami came to the crease in the second over after veteran Sudip Chatterjee (0) was dismissed without troubling the scorers.
Gharami hit 19 fours and a lofted six in his near six hours of astute batsmanship, which also was a testament to his stamina and defensive technique.