Ranji Trophy | Padikkal puts Karnataka in strong position against TN

Devdutt Padikkal's third century of the season puts Karnataka in a strong position against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy match.

Devdutt Padikkal’s purple patch continued as he notched up his third century of the season to guide Karnataka to a strong position of 288 for five against Tamil Nadu on day one of the Elite Group-C Ranji Trophy match here at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.

Electing to bat, Karnataka lost skipper Mayank Agarwal early, playing on to the stumps off Sai Kishore before Padikkal took centre-stage with an aggressive unbeaten 151 (216b, 12x4, 6x6).

The left-hander — who returned to the side after scoring a century and half-century in the two matches for India A against England Lions — took the attack to the TN pacers from the moment he walked in. He started his knock by lofting M. Mohammed over point and down the ground for a four and a six and gave the same treatment to Sandeep Warrier a while later.

At the other end, opener R. Samarth (57) made a valuable half-century and added 132 runs for the second wicket with Padikkal, setting a strong platform for the visitors.

After lunch, Padikkal launched into Sai Kishore, depositing the TN skipper over long-on and mid-wicket after getting to his half-century. The 23-year-old looked comfortable tackling the left-arm spinners on a pitch with variable bounce. He had a reprieve on 77 when Mohammed dropped a straightforward catch at long-on off Ajith Ram.

Padikkal made TN pay the price as he took apart Sai Kishore, hitting him for a six and two fours off consecutive deliveries to race to his sixth First Class hundred in style.

In the final session, TN fought back with three quick wickets through its spinners before Hardik Raj and Padikkal steadied things with an unbroken 54-run stand.