Grass too green for home side as Awana picks five

Parvinder Awana's uncanny knack of adapting to different cricketing wickets has made him one of the most consistent bowlers at the domestic level. Whether it is a featherbed or a spinning track, Awana manages to extract the most out of the wicket and make life miserable for the batting side.

On Saturday, he didn't have to try too hard, considering Karnataka presented the visiting Delhi side with a green top. And not long after the hosts decided to bat first on a lively Chinnaswamy track, it was an Awana show.

On Day One of this high profile Ranji game, Awana claimed his second five-for of the season and in the process engineered Karnataka's downfall. With only Stuart Binny (61) making a start count, the hosts were bowled out for 192. But by the end of the day, even Delhi struggled to come to terms with the surface, reduced to 44/2 — with Shikhar Dhawan making 38 of those runs.

The story of the day, however, was Awana. With five spells neatly dividing his 21 over effort, Awana spread his destruction over Karnataka's top, middle and lower order.

With only Binny looking comfortable, Awana responded by bowling a beauty -- a perfect outgoing delivery that kissed the batsman's edge to stumper Bisht.

"I liked that wicket a lot. My delivery just took Binny by surprise from the good length spot," said Awana at the end of a successful first day's play in Bangalore.

But not long after, Delhi were at the receiving end. Sharath Shivalingaiah dismissed both Unmukt Chand and Mohit Sharma, on 1 and 0 respectively.

Brief scores: Karnataka 192 in 65 overs (Stuart Binny 61, Parvinder Awana 5/81) vs Delhi 44 for 2 in 15 overs (Shikhar Dhawan batting 38)

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