Right arm pacer Vinay Kumar's lively new ball spell helped Karnataka gain a stranglehold on defending champions Railways on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'A' cricket match in Delhi on Wednesday.
Vinay Kumar responded to Karnataka's decision to make use of an unusually green-tinged wicket at the Karnail Singh stadium by grabbing three for 30 and reducing the hosts to 186 for five in the first round league encounter.
Left-handed middle order batsman Raja Ali scored a fighting 59 and featured in a 54-run stand for the fifth wicket but his dismissal towards the end of the day tilted the scales further towards the visitors.
Opening batsman Amit Pagnis was the other notable contributor with 39.
At stumps, the experienced Yere Goud (16) and Shreyas Khanolkar (7) were at the crease.
"We would have batted had we won the toss," said Railways coach Vinod Sharma after captain Sanjay Bangar lost the toss.
The track, traditionally of slow turning character, offered enough bounce and pace. But there was some juice in the fresh pitch and the Karnataka seamers did enough damage to seize the initiative.
Vinay Kumar struck in the first over, inducing an outside edge from Bangar (0) to Sudhindra Shinde at first slip.
He struck again in the 11th over when he had the left handed Tejinder Pal Singh (16) caught at second slip.
Pagnis survived a run out chance when on eight as Stuart Binny at point missed the stumps with the batsman stranded in the middle of the pitch.
The scoreboard moved at snail's pace, and lunch was taken at 76 for two in 36 overs.
Vinay Kumar then struck in the first over after the break, trapping Pagnis leg before on the backfoot to break the 50-run stand for the third wicket between the diminutive left-hander and Vineet Saxena (29).
Anil Kumble, returning to action after a two-month rest to treat his lower back, bowled 17 overs on the trot in his first spell conceding 28 runs.
Ali paced his inning sensibly. A six off left arm spinner Sunil Joshi showed him at his best. The left-hander also took on Kumble when he came back for his third spell, cutting him through point and sweeping over mid-wicket.
But the country's leading Test wicket-taker had the last laugh when he had Ali caught at first slip with nine more overs to go for close.
In between, Saxena spooned a simple catch back to Joshi.
Scorecard
Railways (1st innings):
S Bangar c Shinde b Vinay Kumar 0
A Pagnis lbw b Vinay Kumar 39
T P Singh c Somasundar b Vinay Kumar 16
V Saxena c and b Joshi 29
R Ali c Shinde b Kumble 59
Y Goud batting 16
S Khanolkar batting 7
Extras: (b-5, lb-2, nb-13) 20
Total: (for 5 wickets in 90 overs) 186
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-28, 3-78, 4-122, 5-176.
Bowling: Vinay Kumar 17-5-30-3, Dodda Ganesh 13-1-31-0, Bharat Akhil 14-5-31-0, Anil Kumble 28-8-49-1, Sunil Joshi 18-9-38-1.
More from rediff