1,000 runs in a match: Eight-time Ranji Trophy winners set team record in one-sided semi-final

Winning the toss in their first-ever Ranji Trophy semi-final, Uttarakhand made what turned out to be the mistake of choosing to field first, and Karnataka made merry. While they lost opener Mayank Agarawal for eight early on, KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal combined to stitch 278 runs for the second wicket, with the India Test opener makking 141 off 211 balls.

Padikkal continued even after Rahul's departure and reached his maiden double hundred in first-class cricket. He found support from out-of-favour India batter Karun Nair (60), and the young sensation Ravichandran Smaran (135).

When Padikkal was dismissed at the score of 484-4 in the first sesson of day two, Uttarakhand would have thought they had an opening, especially after they also dismissed Shreyas Gopal in the very next over. But their joy was short-lived as the lower order hung around. Wicketkeeper Kruthik Krishna (60) and Vidyadhar Patil (54) both added century partnerships with Smaran as Karnataka batted well into the first session of day three to finish on a mammoth 736 from 194.4 overs.

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They then took only 88.5 overs to clean Uttarakhand up for 233 and secure an eye-watering lead of 503. But instead of enforcing the follow-on, Karnataka decided to bat again and pile on the agony on the first-time semi-finalists.

Krishna opened alongside Agarawal in the second innings, and Padikkal didn't bat after picking up an injury on the field. Yet, Karnataka were able to post 323, with Smaran making another hundred (127) and Rahul, batting at No.6, falling agonisingly short of one (86*).

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Highest team aggregates in a first-class match

Across the two innings, Karnataka made 1,059 runs, the most they have ever made in any first-class match. Overall, it is joint-22nd on the all-time list for highest match aggregates in first-class cricket.

The last time more than 1,000 runs were scored by a team in a first-class game was by North Zone against East Zone in the 2025/26 Duleep Trophy, where NZ amassed 1,063 runs across the two innings.

The highest match aggregate of all time by a team in first-class cricket is 1,365, made by Bombay (now Mumbai) against Maharashtra in the 1948/19 Ranji Trophy semi-final.

The previous highest total by Karnataka was 971, which they made against Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy Plate Group semi-final in 2002/03