By Admin 
Like a Swiss watch, Ravichandran Smaran ticked on to an unbeaten career-best 227 (362b, 16×4, 2×6) for Karnataka to declare its first innings on 547 for eight on the second day of its Elite Group-B fifth-round Ranji Trophy match against Chandigarh at the KSCA Stadium here on Monday.
The double hundred arrived as inevitably as a tide returning to shore. Soon, his unbeaten 220 against Kerala – his previous best – was bound to be left behind, a milestone passed in stride. And just as a tidy 250 edged into view, the declaration arrived.
Chandigarh was reduced to a spent campfire after his gentle, reined-in 544-minute epic.
Smaran extended his sixth-wicket partnership with Shreyas Gopal (62, 147b, 5×4) to 141, and then added 111 for the eighth wicket with Shikhar Shetty (59, 122b, 7×4). He punched off the back foot for a four to the cover boundary off left-arm spinner Nishunk Birla, cover-drove off-spinner Vishu Kashyap and pacer Jagjit Singh Sandhu for a couple of fours, and straight-drove leg-spinner Arjun Azad for another. Then, he burst down the track and smacked a midwicket six off Nishunk.
Shreyas produced a fine swivel-pull, threading it between backward square-leg and fine-leg off pacer Raj Bawa for a four. Shikhar lofted Vishu to long-off and midwicket, collecting a pair of fours.
With the ball, Shreyas beat opener Shivam Bhambri (16) on the outside edge to bowl him, pinned Vishu (5) leg before, and had Nikhil Thakur (1) caught behind, leaving Chandigarh reeling at 72 for four at stumps.
Off-spinner Mohsin Khan accounted for opener Arjun Azad (32), who missed a sweep and was cleaned up.
Chandigarh didn’t help itself either, with four dropped catches and three misfields that leaked fours over the two days.
The scores: Karnataka — 1st innings: K.V. Aneesh c Nikhil b Bawa 2, Mayank Agarwal b Jagjit 9, K.L. Shrijith lbw b Nishunk 17, Karun Nair lbw b Taranpreet 95, Ravichandran Smaran (not out) 227, Abhinav Manohar lbw b Nishunk 11, Shreyas Gopal lbw b Vishu 62, Vidyadhar Patil b Jagjit 30, Shikhar Shetty c & b Vishu 59, Mohsin Khan (not out) 5; Extras (nb-2, b-24, lb-4): 30; Total (for eight wkts. decl. in 160 overs): 547.
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-13, 3-64, 4-183, 5-210, 6-351, 7-427, 8-538.
Chandigarh bowling: Jagjit 24-4-70-2, Bawa 16-4-49-1, Vishu 50-6-141-2, Nishunk 46-1-159-2, Taranpreet 20-0-80-1, Arjun 3-0-16-0, Kaushik 1-0-4-0.
Chandigarh — 1st innings: Shivam Bhambri b Shreyas 16, Arjun Azad b Mohsin 32, Vishu Kashyap lbw b Shreyas 5, Manan Vohra (batting) 14, Nikhil Thakur c Shrijith b Shreyas 1; Extras (b-4): 4; Total (for four wkts in 17.4 overs) 72.
Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-53, 3-58, 4-72.
Karnataka bowling: Kaverappa 2-1-4-0, Vidyadhar 4-1-23-0, Mohsin Khan 6-0-23-1, Shreyas 4.4-0-18-3, Shikhar 1-1-0-0.