Ranji Trophy semifinals: Padikkal double, Smaran ton mount Uttarakhand's woes

Karnataka continued to torment Uttarakhand by batting through another full day on a docile pitch at Lucknow, reaching 689 for 6 at stumps. Skipper Devdutt Padikkal led the charge in a relentless batting effort, converting his century into a maiden double-hundred.

Resuming on 355 for 2, Karun Nair and Padikkal extended their stand to 129 before Nair was dismissed for 60 by Abhay Negi in the 105th over. Padikkal carried on to bring up his double-century shortly after drinks in the morning session. Uttarakhand struck twice in quick succession before lunch, removing Padikkal and then Shreyas Gopal an over later to briefly lift their spirits.

The respite, however, was short-lived. R Smaran and Kruthik Krishna added another century partnership to push Karnataka further ahead. It was only towards the end of the second session that Avneesh Sudha broke through, bowling Kruthik for 60. Uttarakhand found little joy thereafter as Smaran raced to an unbeaten hundred, with Vidhyadhar Patil providing steady support at the other end.

Brief Scores: Karnataka 689/6 (Devdutt Padikkal 232, KL Rahul 141, R Smaran 121*; Aditya Rawat 3-132) vs Uttarakhand

Auqib Nabi's five-wicket haul brought Bengal's innings to an end at 328 in the first session of Day 2, before a crucial century stand between Abdul Samad and Paras Dogra helped Jammu and Kashmir recover from a shaky start. At stumps, they trailed by 130 runs with five wickets in hand.

Seven wickets fell in a frenetic morning session. It began with Sudip Kumar Gharami being trapped lbw by Nabi for 146 in the sixth over of the day. Nabi went on to complete his five-for by dismissing both Akash Deep and Mohammed Shami, before Yudhvir Singh ended Sumanta Gupta's brisk 39-run cameo to wrap up Bengal's innings just before lunch.

In reply, Shami struck early, trapping both openers LBW inside seven overs before lunch to leave J&K at 13 for 2 at the interval. The slide continued immediately after the break as Mukesh Kumar removed Shubham Pundir with the first ball of the second session, reducing them to 13 for 3.

What followed was a defining 147-run partnership between Samad and Dogra. Samad counterattacked for 82, while Dogra complemented him with 54. Both batters enjoyed slices of fortune as Samad was dropped and Dogra was reprieved off a no-ball.

The pair fell in the space of three deliveries, leaving J&K under pressure at 156 for 5. But a steady 42-run stand between Kanhaiya Wadhawan and Abid Mushtaq ensured they reached stumps without further damage.

Brief Scores: Bengal 328 (Sudip Kumar Gharami 146, Abhimanyu Easwaran 49; Auqib Nabi 5-87, Sunil Kumar 3-41) lead Jammu and Kashmir 198/5 (Abdul Samad 82, Paras Dogra 54; Mohammad Shami 3-60, Mukesh Kumar 2-40) by 130 runs