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Bangalore: Uttar Pradesh's despondent body language was a dead giveaway on a day when their hopes evaporated as swiftly as the moisture on the KSCA pitch. At 15 for three within 40 minutes of play hosts Karnataka looked dead and buried. Yet by the end of the first day's play in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, it was UP that looked broken and disjointed.
Karnataka, powered by two brilliant centuries by Robin Uthappa and Karun Nair and a rollicking unbeaten 89 by CM Gautham, dramatically turned the tables in one of the finest fightbacks seen on this venue. At close, the hosts were 297/5.
UP, who opted to bowl first on a green top laden with moisture were over the moon when they plucked out Karnataka's three heavy run-getters, KL Rahul, R Samarth and Manish Pandey, all without opening their account. That brought the in-form Karun Nair, who had opened the batting against Delhi and made a century in challenging circumstances, to join forces with an unusually circumspect Uthappa.
Amit Mishra, the pick of the three-pronged medium-pace attack, was getting the ball to move disconcertingly. The alternate strips of grass and bald pitch challenged the batsmen. Deliveries that hit the turf seamed and skidded through while the rest went at a different velocity.
Uthappa, though, was the more assertive partner. He eschewed risks, but still came up with some spanking drives and leg glances while Karun got his eye in and made it count. The pair added 120 runs for the fourth wicket.
Brief scores:
Karnataka 297 for 5 (Uthappa 100, Nair 100, Gautam 89*)
