Ranji Trophy Live Score, Semi Final Day 1: Highlights - Rahul, Padikkal and Gharami hit hundreds

KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal added a mammoth 278 for the second wicket to deflate Uttarakhand in Lucknow. Karnataka finished on 355 for 2, with Padikkal (148*) and Karun Nair (37*) at the crease. Rahul scored 141, with Aditya Rawat getting both wickets for Uttarakhand.

Shahbaz Ahmed falls in the final over of the day. He walks down a step at Sunil Kumar, who gets a short-of-a-length ball to seam back in and strike him in front. Shahbaz reviews the decision, and finds out that DRS thinks the ball would have hit leg stump. Gharami, though, is still undefeated on 136. Bengal 249 for 5 in 79.4 overs.

It's 4.10pm local time, and we're already ten minutes past the scheduled close of play as the game between Bengal and J&K had started at 9am. And yet, J&K have bowled just 75 overs. They have another 20 minutes remaining of the extra half an hour, but don't seem on track for bowling any more than 80 overs today.

Up north in Lucknow, though, Uttarakhand are speeding with their overs. That game began at 9.30am, and has seen 79 overs already, with 20 minutes left in scheduled close and another 30 for the extra half an hour.

KL Rahul departs for 141 to end what seemed like a never-ending stand with Padikkal. Uttarakhand bring Aditya Rawat back into the attack, and he strikes first ball. Rawat bowls short on off, and the ball shapes in. Rahul closes the bat face to clip, but does so a bit early. As a result, a leading edge goes back to Rawat. It's drinks, and Karnataka 296 for 2 in 74.1 overs.

Karnataka 275 for 1 in 65 overs. Rahul 127* and Padikkal 120*.

Karnataka 263 for 1 in 62 overs, and that's tea in Lucknow. Uttarakhand nabbing Mayank Agarwal in the morning seems like ages ago now. After taking their time to get set, KL Rahul (125*) and Devdutt Padikkal (111*) have deflated the hosts. Their stand has reached 245 at a run rate of 4.62, as the boundaries have kept flowing. Uttarakhand are running out of ideas.

"Ya, ya, ya, ya!" Sudip Kumar Gharami pushes at a full ball outside off towards cover point on the fourth ball of the 53rd over by Abid Mushtaq, and calls for the single to take him to hundred. He celebrates by taking his gloves off, and kissing the chain he's wearing. Gharami is living a dream. Bengal 168 for 4 in 53 overs.

Fifth ball of the 55th over, Devdutt Padikkal advances, and heaves none other than former Karnataka left-arm spinner J Suchith for six over wide long-on. In the process, his bottom hand comes off the bat, but the shot takes him from 98 to 104. The captain is chugging. Karnataka 237 for 1 in 55 overs. Padikkal and Rahul both on 105*.

It was J&K's session. Auqib Nabi struck twice, including getting Abhimanyu Easwaran on 49, early in the afternoon. At the other end, Sudip Kumar Gharami kept riding his luck. After surviving reviews in the morning, he got a few boundaries wide of slips or gully after being squared up by the pacers. Gharami ends unbeaten on 93*, but lost Anustup Majumdar towards the end of the session. Bengal 160 for 4 in 52 overs.

Uttarakhand bring on part-timer Avneesh Sudha to try and distract KL Rahul, who starts the over on 99. But fourth ball, Rahul goes back to clip to fine leg for a single. That's back-to-back hundreds for Rahul in this Ranji season. Karnataka 221 for 1 in 52 overs.

Sudip Kumar Gharami is in great touch. After a mammoth 299 in the last game, Gharami follows up with a fifty, before attacking left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq with three boundaries in the 45th over.

First, Gharami takes a step down, and nudges the ball wide of mid-on. A spectator beyond the boundary loses his hat in trying to chase the ball. Next, Gharami opens the face of the bat last moment, and beats slip and point for another four. Then he gets four to a third different part of the ground by sweeping to fine leg.

Bengal 127 for 3 in 45 overs. Gharami on 66*.

With his father-in-law and Bollywood actor Suneil Shetty in attendance, KL Rahul skips down the pitch, and lofts Mayank Mishra for yet another six. This one goes over long-off. That takes his stand with Devdutt Padikkal to 152, and Rahul past 300 runs this season. Karnataka 170 for 1 in 40 overs.

In the very over after dismissing Easwaran, Auqib Nabi has Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal jabbing behind to the keeper. Jaiswal, though, waits for the umpire to raise his finger before walking off. That gives Nabi his second wicket after lunch.

Next over, Sunil Kumar gets an outside edge off new batter Anustup Majumdar, and the ball falls just short of second slip. Bengal 91 for 3 in 33 overs, as J&K hit back after lunch.

Beautiful ball from Auqib Nabi. Bowling the second over after lunch, he angles one into Abhimanyu Easwaran, and goes on the fuller side of a length on off. Easwaran is squared up as the ball goes on with the angle to rattle the off stump. The Bengal captain goes for 49, and his side have to rebuild again. New batter Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal faces a dot ball to end the over. Bengal 89 for 2 in 30 overs.

Despite losing Mayank Agarwal early, Karnataka have hit back against Uttarakhand. Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal have added 115 in just 23 overs, at a rate of exactly five runs an over. Karnataka captain Padikkal gets to fifty in the final over before lunch, by driving Jagadeesa Suchith to long-on. Karnataka 133 for 1 in 32 overs, as Uttarakhand search for answers after opting to bowl.

In the 27th over, KL Rahul survived a stumping chance. He was down the pitch to Mishra, and missed a shortish ball on middle while pushing forward. The wicketkeeper, Saurabh Rawat, perhaps blinded by the batter skipping down, saw the ball whiz past his left shoulder for four byes.

The third ball of the 28th over, from Aditya Rawat, is a bit too full around off. Rahul gets half a stride out, and drives for four through cover, beating both deep-backward point and the cover fielder chasing back. That brings up his fifty, while two runs later in the over raises the hundred stand with Padikkal. Karnataka 119 for 1 in 28 overs.

Easwaran and Gharami have added an unbeaten 76, taking Bengal to 80 for 1 in 28 overs at the break. The J&K quicks Nabi, Sunil and Yudhvir had their moments - and plenty of them - but were unlucky to get only one wicket in the session. Decisions and reviews went against them, and with time, Easwaran and Gharami settled. The Bengal captain particularly liked going after left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq, whom he launched for a big six down the ground. Easwaran on 46 at lunch, and Gharami on 31.

These are the 22nd and 23rd overs. Janmejay Joshi, around the wicket to Padikkal, angled it in but went too far down the leg side. The ball was on the shorter side of a length on leg, and slid down for five wides. Two balls later, a bouncer from over the wicket to Rahul went too high, and over Rahul's bat after an attempted pull for four byes.

Next over, Padikkal skipped down the pitch to swing for six off Mayank Mishra, who was around the wicket. That's 17 runs in two overs. Karnataka 87 for 1 in 23 overs, and with momentum on their side.

In the 21st over, KL Rahul skips down the pitch against left-arm spinner Mayank Mishra, and lofts for six over long-on. While that is a sign of confidence, that wasn't entirely the case when the Uttarakhand bowlers were very tight with the new ball. But after Mayanak Agarwal fell, captain Devdutt Padikkal started well - he slashed two early boundaries to signal positive intent. Karnataka 70 for 1 in 21 overs, with the second-wicket stand at 52.

Sudip Kumar Gharami overturned two decisions using reviews, and took 19 balls to get off the mark. Abhimanyu Easwaran survived when J&K reviewed but that remained not out.

J&K tested the Bengal batters with swing and seam early, but they have now settled. In the 22nd over, Easwaran leans into a flick off a length ball outside off from Yudvhir Singh, and gets four to deep midwicket. That raises the fifty stand for the second wicket after Bengal huffed and puffed against the new ball. Three balls later, Easwaran clips late for another four - this one wide of the keeper. Bengal 59 for 1 in 22 overs.

Here's Neeraj Pandey reporting:

February is only halfway through, but the heat is already much harsher than expected. On Sunday morning, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal batted with plenty of caution in the first half hour, giving Karnataka a watchful start. However, credit must also go to the Uttarakhand bowlers, who bowled with great discipline.

Abhay Negi bowled a maiden in his four overs. From the other end, Janmejay Joshi was even tighter, giving away only four runs in four overs, amid bowling a maiden. The pressure created by the two eventually paid off for Aditya Rawat, who struck in his very first over by dismissing Agarwal. The batter went for an expansive drive at a ball outside off stump, only to nick it and see it safely pouched by second slip.

It's the 18-year-old right-arm quick Aditya Rawat who strikes for Uttarakhand. He angles one in to go full slightly wide outside off, and gets no movement in the air or off the pitch. Mayank Agarwal goes driving away from his body, and gets an outside edge to second slip. He's gone for 5, as Rawat strikes for Uttarakhand. Karnataka 18 for 1 in nine overs.

Keyur Kelkar, the third umpire in Kalyani, is working overtime.

After overturning a decision against Sudip Kumar Gharami in the second over, he was called on in the sixth. On that occasion, Sunil Kumar was around the wicket to Gharami. The fullish ball pitched around sixth stump, and seamed back in to strike him on his knee as he looked to defend. The on-field umpire gave it not out after J&K appealed, and the visitors went for the review. What they found out, though, was that the ball would have missed the leg stump.

In the seventh over, Auqib Nabi beat Abhimanyu Easwaran in the channel just outside off. Easwaran went pushing but the ball went past the outside edge. Again J&K appealed but it was turned down. Again they reviewed, and again they lost it. Bengal 9 for 1 in seven overs, as J&K test them with swing and seam.

Uttarakhand, who opted to host Karnataka in Lucknow, opt to bowl on a pitch with a greenish look. They beat Jharkhand by an innings in the quarter-final, while Karnataka hunted down 325 against Mumbai. So it's two teams in top form.

An action-packed over after J&K opt to bowl against Bengal in Kalyani.

J&K's left-arm quick Sunil Kumar shares the new ball with Auqib Nabi, who bowled the first over. Sunil angles it into the left-hand batter Sudip Chatterjee, and gets good bounce off the hard ball. Chatterjee went blocking, but got an outside edge to third slip to fall for a second-ball duck.

Out comes new batter Sudip Kumar Gharami, fresh off a career-best 299 against Andhra. On this fourth ball, he looks to flick a full ball swinging into leg, but misses. Sunil and co appeal for caught behind, and he's given out. But Gharami reviews immediately, only to find out that UltraEdge isn't available. After multiple split-screen replays, though, the third umpire says he believes there was a gap between bat and ball. So Gharami survives. Bengal 4 for 1 after two overs.