A shade sedately by his standards, Robin Uthappa registered his second century this season to guide Karnataka to 302 for two at close on day one of its Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Assam at the Holkar stadium on Monday.
The milestone was reached in a little over six hours off 169 balls adorned with 13 boundaries.
The Assam attack did well to contain Karnataka’s openers through most of the morning session. To dislodge the duo seemed beyond its pale though, a four-pronged pace battery not making much headway, try as much as it might. While not lacking in discipline, it fell short on firepower, perhaps.
Both batsmen bided their time, the swashbuckler in Uthappa seemingly subdued, his front foot forking out frequently to frame the forward defensive.
Meanwhile, K.L. Rahul, positioning himself outside the crease, with high backlift, raised bat and rotating wrists, came down harder on the bowlers, regardless of what they hurled at him.
Off one such rising delivery, Rahul pulled Pallav Das to the ropes at square-leg, his eighth boundary bringing up his half-century.
Setting a field to him was a losing proposition as he picked holes often, the whip-hand almost always his.
If Swarupam Purkayastha was Assam’s trump card, he made little impact, his ends shuffled often for that elusive breakthrough.
A couple of copybook cover drives saw Uthappa into three figures, reached unusually with a single.
His partner’s century looked imminent. Rahul (91, 154 b, 14 x 4) reacted a tad late to Abu Nechim and heard the fatal rattle of timber behind him.
Uthappa pumped up the pace after tea, hoisting Purukayastha over the long-on railings, his 153 containing 21 boundaries. His resorting to reverse sweeps revealed a streak of recklessness, but it was a prod back to Syed Mohammad that brought about his end.
Manish Pandey, on 18, and R. Samarth, on 39, were at the crease when stumps were drawn.
The scores:
Karnataka — 1st innings: Robin Uthappa c & b Mohammad 153, K.L. Rahul b Nechim 91, R. Samarth (batting) 39, Manish Pandey (batting) 18; Extras (b-1) 1; Total (for two wickets in 90 overs): 302.
Fall of wickets: 1-194, 2-264.
Assam bowling: Arup Das 16-5-49-0, Krishna Das 17-3-44-0, Abu Nechim 15-0-69-1, Pallav Das 3-0-8-0, J. Syed Mohammad 22-4-66-1, Swarupam Purkayastha 15-4-63-0, Gokul Sharma 2-1-2-0.
Toss: Assam.
