It is rare for a Ranji Trophy final to take shape with nearly two full days of cricket left in the semifinals. But that’s what happened on Wednesday at the Ekana Cricket Stadium here and in distant Kalyani, after just 90 minutes of play.
Karnataka wore Uttarakhand down further and earned a massive 503-run first-innings lead even as Jammu & Kashmir reached the 126-run target to oust Bengal.
Uttarakhand, from an overnight 149 for five, was bundled out for 233 on the penultimate morning. With no requirement to force an outright result, Karnataka batted again and got to 299 for six by stumps, with the overall lead now a gigantic 802.
The only scare for the eight-time champion was the injury to skipper Devdutt Padikkal, who hurt his right hand while grassing Abhay Negi at gully off Prasidh Krishna.
Karnataka batsman Kruthik Krishna made the most of the chance to open the innings to score a half century on the fourth day of the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Uttarakhand at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
R.V. MOORTHY
The 25-year-old, who had his fingers taped for the rest of the day, neither marshalled his team thereafter nor came out to bat.
But Karnataka didn’t miss him one bit and would have been thankful for the additional rest and recovery time ahead of the final starting on February 24.
Armed with the space to experiment, Karnataka rejigged its batting order in the second essay, asking wicket-keeper Kruthik Krishna to open with Mayank Agarwal and promoting Shreyas Gopal to No. 3.
Kruthik capitalised by scoring his second half-century of the contest (52, 97b, 9×4) but Shreyas could not as he was out for his third duck in four innings.
R. Smaran, though, displayed his immense hunger for runs by conjuring his second century of the match, fourth of the campaign and sixth in First Class cricket (127, 149b, 12×4, 3×6).
The 22-year-old has now totalled 950 Ranji Trophy runs in 2025-26, a splendid achievement for someone playing only his second season.
K.L. Rahul, coming in at No. 6, made an entertaining, unbeaten 70 (67b, 3×4, 5×6) and the 168-run partnership with Smaran all but reduced Uttarakhand to a heap of dust.
The scores: Karnataka — 1st innings: 736.
Uttarakhand — 1st innings: Bhupen Lalwani c Kruthik b Vidyadhar 15, Prashant Chopra lbw b Vidyadhar 5, Avneesh Sudha b Vyshak 27, Lakshya Raichandani b Vyshak 55, Kunal Chandela c Rahul b Shreyas 12, J. Suchith b Prasidh 21, Saurabh Rawat c Smaran b Vyshak 14, Abhay Negi c Karun b Shreyas 9, Mayank Mishra st. Kruthik b Shikhar 10, Aditya Rawat (not out) 45, Janmejay c sub (Aneesh) b Vidyadhar 11; Extras (b-2, lb-4, nb-1, w-2): 9; Total (in 88.5 overs): 233.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-37, 3-61, 4-81, 5-124, 6-153, 7-162, 8-171, 9-175.
Karnataka bowling: Vidyadhar 15.5-3-40-3, Prasidh 18-2-62-1, Vyshak 17-2-45-3, Shikhar 24-10-39-1, Shreyas 14-4-41-2.
Karnataka — 2nd innings: Mayank Agarwal c Saurabh b Abhay 21, Kruthik Krishna lbw b Avneesh 52, Shreyas Gopal lbw b Mayank 0, Karun Nair c Suchith b Abhay 8, R. Smaran c Raichandani b Suchith 127, K.L. Rahul (batting) 70, Vidyadhar Patil c Aditya b Mayank 7; Extras (b-8, lb-2, nb-3, w-1): 14; Total (for six wkts. in 63.5 overs): 299.
Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-40, 3-59, 4-122, 5-290, 6-299.
Uttarakhand bowling: Abhay 15-7-53-2, Janmejay 9-0-54-0, Mayank 12.5-1-57-2, Avneesh 12-1-50-1, Suchith 12-0-59-1, Aditya 2-0-13-0, Raichandani 1-0-3-0.
Published – February 18, 2026 08:52 pm IST
