Devdutt Padikkal’s purple patch continued as he notched up his third century of the season to guide Karnataka to a strong position of 288 for five against Tamil Nadu on day one of the Elite Group-C Ranji Trophy match here at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.
Electing to bat, Karnataka lost skipper Mayank Agarwal early, playing on to the stumps off Sai Kishore before Padikkal took centre-stage with an aggressive unbeaten 151 (216b, 12x4, 6x6).
The left-hander — who returned to the side after scoring a century and half-century in the two matches for India A against England Lions — took the attack to the TN pacers from the moment he walked in. He started his knock by lofting M. Mohammed over point and down the ground for a four and a six and gave the same treatment to Sandeep Warrier a while later.
