Lucknow, February 15 Senior opener KL Rahul (141) and captain Devdutt Padikkal (148 batting) smashed big centuries and propelled Karnataka to a commanding 355 for two on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Uttarakhand here on Sunday.
Uttarakhand captain Kunal Chandela won the toss and opted to field first, but his decision did not yield the desired result for his team as Karnataka saw two of their top batters torment the opposition bowlers with their high-quality batting.
Coming off his brilliant century in Karnataka's victory over Mumbai in the quarterfinals, Rahul, India's Test and ODI specialist, constructed another magnificent innings that was built on the back of a fine mix of aggression and caution.
Rahul made 141 off 211 balls, decorating his 25th First-Class century with 11 fours and five sixes, the number of maximums clearly indicating that he was open to take the aerial route when presented with an opportunity.
Padikkal was batting on 148 off 236 balls when the stumps were drawn on the first day's play at the Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Karun Nair, the eight-time Ranji champions' other major batter, was giving Padikkal company with an unbeaten 37 at the close of play.
During his stay in the middle, Padikkal struck 16 boundaries and two sixes, and he will look to continue in same fashion on the second day.
The duo of Rahul and Padikkal was associated in a mammoth partnership of 278 runs, which is Karnataka's second highest stand for the second wicket since 2005-06. The highest is 284, against Maharashtra in 2009-10.
This was also the second-highest second-wicket partnership of the season. Tamil Nadu's Vimal Khumar and Pradosh Ranjan Paul's 307 against Nagaland is the highest second wicket partnership of the ongoing season.
Earlier, after being asked to bat, Karnataka lost Mayank Agarwal early.
However, Rahul and Padikkal piled on the runs thereafter and troubled the Uttarakhand bowlers for a major part of the day.
With his father-in-law and Bollywood actor Suneil Shetty in attendance, Rahul produced another fine innings, and brought up his hundred with a single off part-timer Avneesh Sudha while Karnataka's total to 221 for one in 52 overs.
Karnataka, who were 133 for one at lunch, continued their dominance in the second session and progressed to 263 for one at tea with both Rahul and Padikkal looking in great touch with the bat.
This was some time after Padikkal reached his century with a six over long-on off former Karnataka left-arm spinner J Suchith, the maximum taking him from 98 to 104.
Even as Uttarakhand struggled for answers, the stand was finally broken when Aditya Rawat, brought back into the attack, struck with his first ball in the day's final session of play, a leading edge from Rahul bringing some relief for the beleaguered side.
