There’s been a lot written and spoken about modern-day stroke-making innovations in this age of Twenty20 cricket, but it’s quite evident that batsmen, at the domestic level at least, are yet to find an antidote to traditional swing in a breezy morning session.

On a spongy Roshanara surface, which had a dose of live grass rolled in, the conditions were perfect to get the new ball talking. And for all the questions R Vinay Kumar posed, Delhi’s batsmen had few answers. In two marathon spells from the far end, the Karnataka bowler consistently hit the right length, drew the batsmen forward into the zone of uncertainty, as the slip cordon was engaged in constant reflex actions and celebrations.

The Karnataka opening bowler returned with career-best figures of 8 for 32 as Delhi’s line-up, short on experience, played the proverbial rabbits. The home side was dismissed for 154 in just 54.4 overs, and Karnataka now seem on track to pick up their second set of five full points after their win over Uttar Pradesh.

Having taken the initiative, Rahul Dravid provided a few lessons in batting under tough conditions, remaining unbeaten on 33 along with KB Pawan (40), as Karnataka went to stumps 91 for two. Dravid drove straight down the ground, rocked back twice to cut short balls to the point boundary, and leaned forward into a cover drive — the attacking shots interspersed with oodles of patience as Karnataka dug themselves out of a small hole as well. Sumit Narwal had picked up CM Gautam early, while debutant left-arm seamer Pawan Suyal dismissed Amit Verma for his first wicket, but from a nervous 20 for two, Dravid and Pawan added 71 runs to calm things down.

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