Lucknow: On Thursday, it was just a formality for eight-time champions Karnataka to make it to the Ranji Trophy final after their five-day semi-final against hosts Uttarakhand ended in a draw at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here in Lucknow.
Karnataka, under the leadership of Devdutt Padikkal ended an 11-year wait to enter the Ranji final and will now face Jammu and Kashmir in the summit clash at Hubballi, starting February 24.
Riding high on some fine batting performances from Padikkal, KL Rahul, Ravinchandra Smaran and others, Karnataka scored 736 in the first innings and took a solid 503 runs first-innings lead after Uttarakhand folded for 233.
In the second innings too, Karnataka’s dominance with willow continued and they posted 323, stretching their lead to 826, an impossible task for Uttarakhand to achieve in their second innings on the final day. And as expected the hosts could make 260/6 before the two captains decided to shake hands for a draw.
Resuming Day 5 from 299/6, Karnataka’s tail folded swiftly, losing their last four wickets to finish at 323. Uttarakhand mounted a gritty response, with fifties from Avneesh Sudha (66, 71b, 10×4), Sachin Rawat (53*, 114b, 4×4, 2×6), and Abhay Negi (57*, 66b, 5×4, 3×6) but could manage only 260/6 as the match ended in a draw.
Karnataka had pushed aggressively for a win reducing the hosts to 156/6 midway through the middle session, but an unbroken 104-run stand for the seventh wicket between Negi and Rawat made the captains call stumps 30 minutes post-tea.
This triumph marks Karnataka’s return to the final since their last title in 2014-15, a golden era under R Vinay Kumar when they swept the Ranji Trophy, Irani Cup, and Vijay Hazare Trophy, emulating Mumbai as only the second side to claim all three in successive seasons.
Uttarakhand’s campaign, powered by Mayank Mishra’s record 59 wickets, ended in a heartbreak despite their maiden semi-final berth. Uttarakhand leg spinner Mishra, the most successful wicket-taker so far in Ranji Trophy with 59 wickets, took eight wickets, but Karnataka’s batting depth proved decisive.
“We are happy that we played like a unit and made it to the semi-finals for the first time. The loss has taught us many lessons and I am sure that in the next season, we will come out with much better plans,” Uttarakhand’s skipper Kunal Chandela said.
However, Karnataka’s senior batter Karun Nair admired the team’s overall show this season so far. “I think we’ve done really well to get to the final. We have that hunger. I think this group of boys have that in them, and that’s the only thing that we talk about,” he added.
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