Aravind helps Karnataka rout Delhi for 90

As many as 13 wickets fell in Kolkata as Karnataka took the opening-day honours, taking a 41-run lead with seven wickets intact after bowling Delhi out for 90 in less than a session in their Group B fixture at Eden Gardens.

Stand-in captain Karun Nair’s decision to bowl first was vindicated by the new ball bowlers. S Aravind, the left-arm seamer – who replaced the injured captain Vinay Kumar – triggered the meltdown, taking 4 for 12 in 11 overs as Delhi slumped to their lowest score against Karnataka. Their previous-lowest was 138 in the 2005-06 season.

Aravind was complemented by Abhimanyu Mithun and offspinner K Gowtham, who returned to the state side after four years during Karnataka’s season-opener last week. Mithun took two wickets, and Gowtham took three, including that of the in-form Rishabh Pant (24) who had been put down twice – once by Gowtham himself at backward point, and once by Mayank Agarwal at slip.

While the surface had a green tinge, it was far from menacing as the scorecard suggested. This was in evidence as the Karnataka openers added 87. While R Samarth, coming off a double century against Jharkhand, exuded confidence in his 53, Agarwal buried flamboyance for discipline for his 56, before fending a Vikas …

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