In Indian domestic cricket,two fast bowlers from the same side leading the seasons wicket chart is a rarity. But with R Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun both taking a bagful of wickets,Karnataka have managed to do that this year. Against Mumbai on Day One of the Ranji final on Monday,their tallies rose further,as the duo shared seven wickets between them to bowl out the defending champions for 233 on a green top at the Gangotri Glades Stadium here. With the wicket offering pace and swing,the fast bowlers bagged nine of the 11 wickets that fell on the day,with Karnataka at 15 for one at stumps. For Mumbai,the decision to bat first backfired as their top-order,woefully out of form,failing to find an answer to Karnatakas bowling. Vinay gave the visitors an early jolt,dismissing opener Sahil Kukreja off the second ball for the first of four wickets on the day. But he came into his own in his third over,removing first Wasim Jaffer caught brilliantly at short leg by G Satish and two balls later sending back Mumbai batting mainstay Ajinkya Rahane,who nicked to the keeper. At 20 for 3,Mumbai needed a miracle to happen. Onkar Khanvikar and Abhishek Nayar stitched together a 64-run partnership,but just when the duo started to threaten as they did against Delhi in the last game,Mithun broke it. The 20-year-old pacer spoilt Mumbais lunch by taking two quick (both clean bowled) wickets,leaving Mumbai tottering at 100 for 5. Ajit Agarkar was run-out in controversial fashion while Ramesh Powar (23),after taking many blows on his body,became Mithuns third victim. But with even a score of 200 looking difficult,Vinayak Samant and Iqbal Abdulla (30) decided to drop anchor. Playing in a crunch situation is nothing new for the 37-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Samant. His patient innings of 67 off 157 balls set up a perfect fight-back for the defending champions. Samant added 41 runs for the eighth wicket stand with Iqbal and 45 for the ninth wicket with Dhawal Kulkarni (20). In reply,Karnataka had lost the wicket of their skipper Robin Uthappa and K Pawan and night watchman Vinay Kumar on the crease. For 25-year-old Vinay,his performance is the start of a long journey. As he took his tally to 43,his coach Sanath Kumar sees an added talent in his versatile batting like Irfan Pathans,who could come out at any position. SCORECARD Mumbai 1st innings 233 (S Kukreja c Gautam b Vinay Kumar 0,W Jaffer c Satish b Vinay Kumar 3,A Rahane c Gautam b Vinay Kumar 14,O Khanvilkar b Mithun 25,A Nayar b Mithun 37,V Samant c Pandey b Aravind 67,A Agarkar run out 6,R Powar c Pawan b Mithun 23,I Abdulla c Verma b Vinay Kumar 30,D Kulkarni c & b Joshi 20,A Salvi not out 0; Extras (b-1,lb-3,nb-4): 8; FoW: 1-0,2-19,3-20,4-84,5-100,6-106,7-143,8-184,9-229; Bowling: Vinay 20-6-61-4,Mithun 14-1-56-3,Aravind 17-5-48-1,Binny 7-3-11-0,Joshi 14-4-33-1,Verma 6-1-13-0,R Uthappa 1-0-7-0) Karnataka 1st innings 15 for 1 (KB Pawan batting 2,R Uthappa c Jaffer b Kulkarni 9,R Vinay Kumar batting 2; Extras (nb-2): 2; FoW: 1-10; Bowling: Agarkar 3-1-5-0,Kulkarni 3-0-10-1,Salvi 1-1-0-0)
