A day after being guaranteed their passage to the quarterfinals, Karnataka made the most of a placid surface as both openers -- R Samarth and Mayank Agarwal -- went on to notch centuries on the final day of their Ranji Trophy fixture against Uttar Pradesh here on Monday.
Agarwal struck an unbeaten 133 (171b, 12x4, 2x6), while his partner Samarth wasn't far behind on 126 not out (183b, 11x4, 2x6) as Karnataka made 262 for no loss in their second innings when play ended. Karnataka bagged three points for their efforts to take their tally to 26, putting them on top of the Group A, two points ahead of Delhi.
Earlier, resuming on their overnight score of 243 for five, Suresh Raina's Uttar Pradesh lasted just 15 more overs, adding 78 runs, before being bowled out for 331 in 84 overs.
Rinku Singh, who started the final day on 57, added 16 runs to his score before he was snapped up brilliantly by first innings centurion D Nishal at short leg off the bowling of K Gowtham.
After a temporary lull, Karnataka struck twice in two balls. A mix up between Upendra Yadav (49 n.o.) and Saurabh Kumar (12) ended in a run-out and with the very next ball, Shreyas castled Imtiaz Ahmed (0) with a googly.
Upendra continued in gritty fashion but only delayed the inevitable as his side conceded a 324-run lead to the visitors.
Much like the game against Delhi at Alur Ground in Bengaluru, Vinay Kumar's men decided to give their bowlers a rest and let their batsmen gain batting practice from the remainder of the overs.
That is exactly what their openers did as Samarth set the tone with back to back boundaries off the second and third deliveries in the first over. Agarwal, who had slammed centuries in his two previous matches as well, made it three in a row.
The duo added 262 runs in 59 overs before the teams decided to shake hands.
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