How Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma are damaging India | T20 World Cup
A few minutes later, however, play was ordered to resume after tea. With Uttarakhand six wickets down, the umpires pointed to the rules and noted that a direct result for Karnataka was still technically possible. A visibly disgruntled Karnataka side returned to the field, but with the match decided at long on, Abhay Negi (57no) and Saurabh Rawat (53no) treated the final over as batting practice as the opposition wound down the clock. The match was eventually called off less than an hour after tea, with Uttarakhand 260/6. Karnataka will now host first-time runners-up Jammu and Kashmir at the KSCA Rajnagar Stadium – the first time the North Karnataka region will host a Ranji Trophy final. “We are playing the final after a long time. We have worked very hard for the last couple of years but we couldn’t quite pull it off,” Karnataka head coach Yere Goud said. “Playing at home makes it even more special.” Goud was quick to highlight the challenge of Jammu and Kashmir. “They did extremely well, they beat MP and Bengal. They should be given a lot of credit. They are very dangerous. We have to play good cricket and focus on our processes – we will have to play well to beat them.” Karnataka is sweating over Padikkal Karnataka captain Devdutt Padikkal did not take the field on the last day after suffering a cut on Wednesday that required five stitches on his right hand. But Goud played down concerns about his availability for the finals starting on Tuesday. “When I saw the cut, I was pretty sure he would be able to do it. He probably needs two to three days of rest and should be fine for the game,” Goud said. Shreyas landmark The match also marked a personal milestone for Shreyas Gopal, who became the latest Karnataka player to reach 300 first-class wickets in his 97th appearance in the format. The 32-year-old is the top player this season with 46 scalps. “It’s a special feeling to reach a milestone in the semi-finals and it gives me a lot of confidence going into the final,” Shreyas said. Earlier, Karnataka, who resumed on 299/6, were bowled out for 323 with KL Rahul unbeaten on 86 after running out of partners. Karnataka now focus on Hubballi and a chance to add a ninth Ranji Trophy title to their storied history. SELECTION TABLE Karnataka (1st innings): 736 Uttarakhand (IInd Innings): 233 Karnataka (IInd innings, o/n 299/6): KL Rahul (not out) 86, Vyshak Vijaykumar st S Rawat b Mishra 0, Shikhar Shetty b Mishra 7, Prasidh Krishna (run out) 7, Devdutt Padikkal (absent injured). Extras (B-8; NB-4; LB-2; W-1) 15. Total (all not out; 74.3 overs) 323 Fall of wickets: 7-299, 8-311, 9-323 Bowling: Abhay Negi 19-9-63-2, Janmejay Joshi 9-0-54-0, Mayank Mishra 18-3-69-4, Avneesh Sudha 12-1-50-1, J Suchith 12-0-59-1, Adityahya Rawat 3.3-0-0 1-0-3-0. Uttarakhand (2nd innings): Bhupen Lalwani c Kruthik b Prasidh 15, Prasanth Chopra c Kruthik b Vyshak 0, Avneesh Sudha c Rahul b Shreyas 66, Lakshya Raichandani c Kruthik b Prasidh 10, J Suchith c Aneesh out, Rathreyas (out) Rah9 (Suhreyas) 53, Kunal Chandela st Kruthik b Shreyas 20. Abhay Negi (not out) 57. Extras (B-12; LB-2; W-6) 20. Total (6 weeks; 62 overs) 260. Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-48, 3-72, 4-107, 5-128, 6-156. Bowling: Vidyadhar Patil 4-0-13-0, Prasidh Krishna 6-1-17-2, Vyshak Vijaykumar 4-0-22-1, Shikhar Shetty 24-1-97-0, Shreyas Gopal 19-1-83-3; Karun Nair 2-0-9-0; Mayank Agarwal 2-0-5-0.