A brilliant, but painstaking, 81 by Barrington Rowland and his useful 97-run partnership for the sixth wicket with B Akhil (48 not out) enabled Karnataka end day 1 in the Elite Ranji Trophy Group 'A' match against Delhi on 231 for 6, at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Delhi skipper Virender Sehwag, with his off-breaks, claimed two wickets for 39 runs in his ten overs, with the other bowlers sharing the spoils.

Sehwag and leggie Anil Kumble, who are part of the Pakistan bound Indian team, opted to help their respective teams in the crucial encounter. Leading by example, Sehwag was also instrumental in two other dismissals, by catching opener Robin Uthappa (31) off Abhishek Sharma at extra cover and V S Tilak Naidu (19) at square leg off Chetanya Nanda.

Karnataka skipper Sujith Somasundar won the toss and made first use of the wicket. But the team did not gain from it as three of the top notchers were back in the pavilion for a mere 72 runs.

In his 285-minute stay, facing 224 deliveries, Rowland hit 81 before he was caught behind the wicket by V Kumar off left arm bowler Kunal Lall towards the fag end of the day's play.

Scorecard

Karnataka (1st innings):
A R Uthappa c Sehwag b Sharma 31
B Chipli c Varun Kumar b Bhatia 16
B M Rowland c Varun Kumar b Kunal Lal 81
S P Shinde c Varun Kumar b Sehwag 12
S Somasunder lbw Sehwag 6
V T Naidu c Sehwag b Nanda 19
B Akhil not out 48
S B Joshi not out 0.
Extras: (b 12, lb 1, nb 5) 18
Total: (6 wickets, 90 overs) 231

To bat: N Aiyappa, A Kumble, R Vinay Kumar.

Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-56, 3-72, 4-103, 5-134, 6-231.

Bowling: Bhandari 16-6-29-0, Kunal Lal 16-7-34-1 (5nb), Bhatia 6-1-10-1, Nanda 21-3-41-1, Sharma 21-2-65-1, Sehwag 10-1-39-2.

Delhi: V Sehwag, A Bhandari, A Chopra, M Manhas, S Dhawan, R Bhatia, V Kumar, M Tehlan, A Sharma, C Nanda, K Lal.