Lucknow, February 19 – The Karnataka cricket team, led by Devdutt Padikkal, has ended an 11-year wait and reached their first Ranji Trophy final since the 2014-15 season. The team qualified after they gained a first-innings lead against Uttarakhand in the semi-final played at the Ekana Stadium on Thursday.
The eight-time champions, Karnataka, will play the title clash against Jammu and Kashmir, who created history by reaching the finals for the first time by defeating Bengal in the other semi-final.
The BCCI has not yet announced the venue for the final match, but sources have confirmed to news agency IANS that Hubli is leading the race to host the clash. "It is understood that the KSCA Rajnagar Stadium in Hubbali is leading the race to host the Ranji Trophy final. A JKCA official told IANS that it is likely the final will be held in Hubbali, though a formal confirmation on this hasn't come yet."
Speaking about the match, Karnataka batted for 194.4 overs after losing the toss and scored a magnificent total of 736 runs in the first innings, thanks to a double century from captain Padikkal, who scored 232 runs off 330 balls.
Opener KL Rahul also continued his excellent form and played a brilliant knock of 141 runs, while Smaran Ravichandran showed composure under pressure and scored 135 runs to take the team to a mammoth total.
Karnataka's bowlers dismantled Uttarakhand's batting unit and bowled them out for just 233 runs in 88.5 overs, giving the team a 503-run lead, which proved crucial in their final qualification.
Vidyadhar Patil and Vijaykumar Vyashak led the team, taking three wickets each, while Shreyas Gopal also took two wickets.
Karnataka added 323 more runs to their lead in the second innings. With the help of a 127-run knock from Ravichandran and an unbeaten innings of 86 runs from Rahul.
Chasing a target of 827 on the final day, Uttarakhand reached 260/6 in 62 overs before both captains agreed to call it a draw. Aditya Rawat remained unbeaten on 53, while Abhay Negi was not out on 57. Gopal took three wickets in the second innings, while Prasidh took two and Vijay Kumar took one for Karnataka.
Brief scores:
Karnataka 736 & 323 (Smaran Ravichandran 127, KL Rahul 86 not out, Kruthik Krishna 52; Mayank Mishra 4-69) drew with Uttarakhand 233 & 260/6 in 62 overs (Abhay Negi 57 not out, Aditya Rawat 53 not out)