New Delhi, Nov 10 (IANS) Medium-pacer R. Vinay Kumar returned with a career-best eight for 32 as Karnataka shot Delhi out for 154 in the first innings of their Ranji Tropy Super League match at the Roshanara Club here Tuesday.
At stumps on the opening day of the four-day game, Karnataka were 91 for two when poor light stopped play with three overs still to be bowled. Opener K.B. Pawan was batting on 40 and with him was stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid on 33.

The Karnataka bowlers made full use of the juicy fresh morning’s wicket and Vinay Kumar fully exploited the conditions after Dravid put Delhi in. The hosts failed to negotiate the moving ball and were bowled out in two sessions and 54.4 overs. Wicket-keeper Punit Bisht top scored with 31 not out.

Dravid, who made impressive 97 and 51 not out in Karnataka’s 185-run win against Uttar Pradesh last week, carried on from where he left off at Meerut, stroking five fours in a well-paced innings. Pawan’s 86-ball knock included seven boundaries.

The day, however, belonged to Vinay Kumar, who bowled his heart out in his 21.4 overs. The 25-year-old Bangalore Royal Challenger player swung the ball both ways to bamboozle the batsmen and 11 of his overs were scoreless.

The home side was left staring down the barrel after being reduced to 87 for five at lunch, with Vinay snaring four of them.

Delhi skipper Akash Chopra decided to play despite a troublesome knee while left-arm seamer Pawan Suyal made his Ranji debut.

Chopra (6) became Vinay’s first victim as he stabbed an away-going ball and Dravid gobbled it up at first slip.

Vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan, who cracked a double century against Baroda, showed some resistance in his 70-ball 26, that included four fours, but couldn’t carry on for long.

The hosts were soon reeling at 61 for five, before Yogesh Nagar (13) and Mayank Tehlan (28) added 31 runs for the sixth wicket and Bisht and Parwinder Awana (17) stitched 34 for the ninth wicket to take their total past the 100-mark.

A jubilant Vinay Kumar said he was told by Dravid to stick to the basics and he did just that.

“I am obviously very happy as these are my best bowling figures. The wicket was slow but it has some grass which helped movement off the pitch. The ball was stopping a bit. I also varied the swing to keep the batsmen guessing,” said Vinay, who bettered his previous best 6-38 against Maharashtra two seasons ago.

Chopra said it would require an “extraordinary effort” from his players to come back into the match.

“The pitch was moist and the ball was darting both ways even after the lunch. It’s only now that it has become conducive for batting. It will require an extraordinary effort from our players to win the match from here,” he said.