Rahul, Padikkal hit tons for Karnataka; Gharami rescues Bengal

KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal added a mammoth 278 for the second wicket to deflate Uttarakhand in Lucknow. While Rahul fell for 141 just before the final hour of day one of the Ranji Trophy semi-final, Padikkal headed to stumps undefeated on 148. Karnataka finished on 355 for 2, looking set for a huge total.

In the morning, after Uttarakhand had opted to bowl, their quicks got the new ball to move. Eighteen-year-old Aditya Rawat dismissed Mayank Agarwal for 5, as Karnataka managed just 18 runs in nine overs. But that was as good as it got for Uttarakhand on Sunday.

Once Rahul and Padikkal settled, though, it was all Karnataka. The pair targetted left-arm spinner Mayank Mishra, pumping sixes down the ground. Uttarakhand also started leaking extras in the second half of the morning session as Rahul and Padikkal started to find their feet.

With Rahul on 99, Uttarakhand brought on part-timer Avneesh Sudha in the 28th over to try and distract him. But Rahul got to his second successive century this season when he calmly flicked the offspinner for a single to fine leg.

Padikkal, meanwhile, reached the landmark by stepping out and heaving former Karnataka left-arm spinner Jagadeesa Suchith for six over long-on. By tea, his stand with Rahul was at 245. But Rawat finally broke through when he had Rahul caught and bowled off a leading edge to end what was Karnataka's second-highest partnership for the second wicket since 2005-06.

But Karun Nair arrived, and started aggressively. He had 29 runs off his first 31 balls, including four fours and a six. Nair, however, slowed down as stumps approached, scoring just eight runs off his next 34 deliveries. His partnership with Padikkal grew to 59, as Karnataka threatened to bat Uttarakhand out of the game.

Sudip Kumar Gharami followed up a career-best 299 with an unbeaten 136, recusing Bengal for the second game in a row. Against Jammu & Kashmir on day one of the Ranji Trophy semi-final in Kalyani, Gharami walked out to bat in the second over, and took Bengal from 89 for 3 at one stage to 249 for 5 by stumps.

Gharami added 85 with captain Abhimanyu Easwaran for the second wicket after Sunil Kumar struck early. After J&K had opted to bowl, their quicks Sunil, Auqib Nabi and Yudhvir Singh tested Bengal with swing and seam movement.

But Gharami rode his luck, and then found his touch. He overturned a caught-behind decision, and then survived when J&K reviewed a not-out call for lbw - both while he was yet to get off the mark. It took Gharami 19 balls to score his first runs, but he did that stylishly. He walked down the pitch at Sunil in the eighth over, and lofted him for six over cover.

Gharami and Easwaran then settled Bengal after a nervy start. But Nabi cleaned Easwaran (49) up in his first over after lunch, and then had Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal caught behind in his next over. Anustup Majumdar then combined with Gharami to bring Bengal back on track with a 66-run fourth-wicket stand.

Abid Mushtaq, though, got one to slightly turn into Majumdar, and had him lbw for a patient 14. The game was in the balance at 155 for 4, but Shahbaz Ahmed and Gharami took it away from J&K. The visitors got a breather in the final over of the day, when Shahbaz, on 42, walked down at Sunil and was lbw. A review couldn't save him, but he and Gharami had taken Bengal to safety with their 94-run partnership.