For all the 106 idle minutes under a slight drizzle and poor light on Friday morning, the fourth and final day of play produced a sustained patch of engrossing cricket with doses of adventurism from Karnataka while Delhi revised traditional time-wasting tactics.

The match ended with Karnataka at 149 for 6 in 38 overs — Balachandra Akhil on 15 with Vinay Kumar on 2 — when Rahul Dravid reluctantly gave in to the umpires after having resolutely refused offers of bad light. Karnataka continued batting against a barrage of dangerous short-deliveries with all nine Delhi fielders on boundary, defending 172 off 57 overs.

The visitors fly out with three points while Delhi will consider themselves lucky to pocket a point for one good session.

Handy start

The day began with Parwinder Awana scoring two forehand shots down the ground and two pull shots for a quickfire 21 as Delhi extended their innings by 16 minutes before left-arm seamer S Aravind bowled a snorter to Pawan Suyal, which he gloved to second slip, ending the hosts’s second innings at 277.

In reply, the opening pair of KB Pawan and CM Gautam started safe but the latter was undone when Awana got the new ball to dart out sharply towards second slip in a nine-over effort of serious pace. Amit Verma spent uncomfortable moments at the crease before Sumit Narwal trapped him leg-before, bringing Rahul Dravid to the middle — but the Karnataka skipper failed to provide the usual solidity, nicking Narwal to wicketkeeper for just five after surviving a run out.

... contd.