Lucknow, Feb 15 (IANS) Wicket-keeper batter KL Rahul hit his second century in a row and forged a historic 296-run partnership with captain Devdutt Padikkal, who remained unbeaten at 148, as Karnataka reached 355/2 at stumps on Day 1 in the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Uttarakhand at the Ekana Stadium on Sunday.

Coming to bat after losing the toss, Karnataka were off to a bad start as their experienced batter Mayank Agarwal was dismissed for 18 runs in the ninth over.

But his opening partner, Rahul, stood tall with the support of Captain Padikkal as the duo stabilised the innings with their experience.

Both players rotated the strike very well and handled the spin threat by continuously moving the scoreboard. Karnataka were 133/1 at the end of the first session, with Rahul and Padikkal both completing their fifties.

The second session belonged fully to Karnataka, as they didn’t lose any wickets, and both their batters completed centuries. Rahul hit his 25th first-class hundred off 153 balls in the 52nd over, continuing his form from the quarter-final where he notched a match-winning hundred against Mumbai.

While captain Padikkal reached the three-figure mark off just 144 balls in the 55th over. With this, Karnataka were 263/1 at the end of the second session.

Uttarakhand finally got their breakthrough in the third session when they dismissed Rahul in the 75th over. Rahul scored 141 runs and hammered 11 fours and five sixes.

After losing his partner, Padikkal formed a 59-run partnership with Karun Nair, who looked in great touch from the start. Karun remained unbeaten at 37 runs off 65 balls at the end of the day as Karnataka crossed the 350-run mark. Aditya Rawat was the lone wicket-taker for Uttarakhand.

Brief Score: Karnataka 355/2 at day 1 stumps (Devdutt Padikkal 148 not out, KL Rahul 141, Karun Nair 37*; Abhay Negi 2-73) against Uttarakhand.

–IANS

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