Karnataka tightened their grip on the semifinal against Uttarakhand after another superb knock from Ravichandran Smaran. By the end of the fourth day, Karnataka had reached 299 for six in their second innings, building a massive overall lead of 802 runs.
Earlier in the day, Karnataka bowled out Uttarakhand for 233 in their first innings. That gave them a huge first-innings lead of 503 runs and effectively sealed their place in the title decider, where they will face Jammu and Kashmir starting February 26.
Even with such a big advantage, Karnataka chose not to enforce the follow-on. Instead, they used their second innings as extra batting practice before the final. They even promoted lower-order batters like Kruthik Krishna and Shreyas Gopal to give them time in the middle. Kruthik made the most of his opportunity, scoring a useful 52.
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Once again, though, it was 22-year-old Smaran who stood out. After scoring 135 in the first innings, he followed it up with another century, 127 runs from 149 balls, including 12 fours and three sixes. He shared a strong 168-run partnership for the fifth wicket with KL Rahul, who remained unbeaten on 70 off 67 balls.
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At one stage, Uttarakhand had reduced Karnataka to 122 for four in the second innings. But by then, the lead had already crossed 600 runs. Smaran and Rahul steadied the innings and stretched Karnataka’s dominance even further.
Uttarakhand had begun the day at 149 for five, hoping to fight back. However, their resistance did not last long. In the very first over of the morning, pacer Vyshak Vijayakumar dismissed Saurabh Rawat for 14. Soon after, he also bowled Lakshya Raichandani.
Uttarakhand slipped to 175 for nine before Aditya Rawat played a quick unbeaten knock of 45 from 38 balls to push the total past 200.
For Karnataka, pacers Vyshak Vijayakumar and Vidyadhar Patil shared six wickets between them, putting Uttarakhand under constant pressure.
With a place in the final secured and their batters in good form, Karnataka look well prepared for the title clash.
Brief scores
Karnataka: 736 and 299/6 in 63.5 overs (R Smaran 127, KL Rahul 70 batting, Krurthik Krishna 52; Abhay Negi 2/53) vs Uttarakhand: 233 all out in 88.5 overs (Lakshya Raichandani 55, Aditya Rawat 45 not out; Vyshak Vijayakumar 3/45, Vidyadhar Patil 3/40).