KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal In Top Form as Karnataka Take Charge on Ranji Trophy Semifinal Day 1 vs Uttarakhand

Star India batters KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal were in absolute beast mode with their respective hundreds on day one of the Ranji Trophy semifinal fixture between Karnataka and Uttarakhand in Lucknow.

Karnataka and Uttarakhand are coming off astounding victories in the Ranji Trophy tournament to secure a spot in the semifinal. Karnataka defeated the domestic titans Mumbai with a four-wicket victory.

Uttarakhand, on the other hand, defeated Jharkhand by an innings and six runs in Jamshedpur to clinch a spot in the semis.  

KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal Bludgeon Uttarakhand Bowlers With Mammoth Stand

India wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul delivered a solid 141 off 211 balls, smashing 11 boundaries and five sixes in the competition. The commanding knock from the veteran kept Karnataka sailing through and remained in a dominant position on day one of action.

Mayank Agarwal, unfortunately, failed to make an impact in the game after being dismissed for just five.

Devdutt Padikkal also displayed sheer brilliance as he remained unbeaten at the day one stumps. The left-handed batter smashed 148* off 236 deliveries. He struck 16 boundaries and two sixes, displaying proper intent and composure against Uttarakhand.

Devdutt Padikkal and KL Rahul's staggering 278-run stand helped put Karnataka in control. The bowlers utterly struggled to breach the stand before eventually doing so.

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Uttarakhand's Aditya Rawat picked up the only two wickets of the day, dismissing KL Rahul after his massive run-stand. He also dismissed Mayank Agarwal.

Karnataka posted 355/2 at stumps on day one, with Devdutt Padikkal and Karun Nair set to return to action on day two.

Sudip Kumar Gharami Delivers Clinical Rescue Effort Against J&K

In the second Ranji Trophy semi-final between Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir, Sudip Kumar Gharami continued his purple patch in the game with an unbeaten 136 after smashing a career-best 299. Gharami's efforts kept Bengal afloat as they put up 249/5 at stumps on day one in Kalyani.

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Bengal were left perilous after skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran was dismissed just one run short of his half-century. Sudip Chatterjee was dismissed for a two-ball duck.

Sudip Gharami walked in at 89/3 and resurrected Bengal with a fighting knock as Bengal scored 249/5 by stumps.

For J&K, Aquib Nabi Dar proved himself clinical after bringing down skipper Easwaran and Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal. Sunil Kumar also picked two scalps, while Abid Mushtaq bagged a scalp as well.