Solid fifties by Devdutt Padikkal, Karun Nair and R Smaran helped Karnataka reach 295 for five amid regular strikes by Saurashtra on Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match in Rajkot on Wednesday. Padikkal (96, 141b, 11×4), Nair (73, 126b, 9×4) added 146 runs for the third wicket after left-arm spinner Dharmendra Jadeja (4/100) dismissed opener Nikin Jose and skipper Mayank Agarwal early in the innings. Smaran was batting on 66 (120b, 4×4, 2×6) at stumps along with veteran Shreyas Gopal.

But once Jose and Agarwal departed with just 26 on the board, Karnataka, who elected to bat first, were tottering at 26 for two, and needed some stability. Padikkal and Nair, who returned to his home state after two seasons with Vidarbha, provided just that.

Padikkal was fluent on the off-side and struck as many as 10 fours through that region, playing some delectable cuts and drives.

Nair, on the other hand, favoured the arc between fine leg and square leg, bringing up five of his nine fours through that space.

There were a couple of dabs to the third man too for boundaries as the third wicket pair rescued Karnataka from a tight spot.

But Jadeja returned to trap Nair in front of the wicket to snap the alliance and the veteran soon went through the defence of Padikkal to reduce the visitors to 195 for four.

The left-hander would have been massively disappointed to play such a reckless pull to get bowled after doing all the hard work.

Saurashtra would have hoped to make a few more dents to pile pressure on Karnataka but Smaran and Shreyas Gopal (38 batting) thwarted those hopes with an unbroken 81-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

As is his wont, Smaran played some delightful shots through the off-side, and a flowing drive off left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya underlined his touch and class.

He found a sensible companion in Gopal, who summoned his years of experience in the domestic circuit to keep his end going, and the sixth-wicket pair scored at a brisk clip too in the final session.

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