Venkatesh takes five wickets as Karnataka blow away Uttarakhand on Day 1

Medium-pacer M Venkatesh sizzled with a five-wicket haul as Karnataka produced a sensational bowling effort to bundle out Uttarakhand for a paltry 116 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal here on Tuesday.

Karnataka were 123 for no loss at stumps.

The 22-year-old Venkatesh justified captain Mayank Agarwal's decision to field after winning the toss as he rocked the top-order, removing Avneesh Sudha (17) and Dikshanshu Negi (9) early after Vidhwath Kaverappa (2/17) drew the first blood, dismissing opener Jiwanjot Singh (1).

Vijaykumar Vyshak (1/25) then had Swapnil Singh (0) caught by Samarth R, while Kaverappa cleaned up Aditya Tare (14), as Uttarakhand lost half their side for only 64 in 27.4 overs.

Kunal Chandela (31) tried to hold one end but wickets continued to tumble, with Venkatesh returning to strike twice in the 47th over, sending Akhil Rawat (14) and Abhay Negi (1) back to the dressing room.

The Mysore pacer also had Chandela caught by Manish Pandey to put the final nail in Uttarakhand's coffins as spinner K Gowtham mopped up the tail with two wickets.

In reply, Karnataka seemed to be batting on a different track as both the openers -- Ravikumar Samarth (54) and Mayank Agarwal (65) -- looked in full flow during their unbeaten fifties.

While Samarth cracked seven boundaries, Agarwal had nine hits to the fence besides a maximum.

Brief Scores: Uttarakhand 1st innings: 116 allout in 55.4 overs (Kunal Chandela 31; M Venkatesh 5/36) Karnataka 1st innings: 123 for no loss in 26 overs (R Samarth 54 not out, Mayank Agarwal 65 not out; Deepak Dhapola 0/32).

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