Skipper Devdutt Padikkal led from the front with a maiden double hundred in first-class cricket as a dominant Karnataka posted an imposing 689 for six, compounding Uttarakhand's misery in their Ranji Trophy semifinal here on Monday. On another fruitful day for the Karnataka batters, Ravichandran Smaran too helped himself to a fluent century, scoring an unbeaten 121 off 191 balls with the help of 11 boundaries. Padikkal made a monumental 232 off 330 balls, striking 29 fours and three sixes during his long vigil at the crease.

Resuming at their overnight total of 355 for two, Karnataka started the second's play from where it had left on first evening, with the duo of Padikkal and Karun Nair (60 off 105 balls) stitching together a partnership of 129 runs for the third wicket to continue their team's domination. Uttarakhand tasted the day's first success when medium pacer Abhay Negi dismissed Karun with a back of a length delivery that angled away, and the nick was taken by wicketkeeper Saurabh Rawat. Padikkal, who began the day at 148 not out, continued to play confidently and reached his first-ever double century in 288 balls, with Smaran too looking good at the other end.