Wickets tumbled like nine pins as Delhi, well-placed overnight, conceded a vital first innings lead of 25 runs to Karnataka on the third day of the Elite Group 'A' Ranji Trophy encounter in Bangalore on Thursday.

At close, Karnataka were 196 for five, with Tilak Naidu batting on 44 and B Akhil unbeaten on 13. The team has a lead of 221 runs with five wickets intact.

Delhi could add only 45 runs to their overnight score of 213 for 2 as the team collapsed to the guiles of Sunil Joshi (6 for 73) and Anil Kumble (3 for 89). The spinners cast a spell on the Delhi batsman and had them all out for 258, in reply to Karnataka's first innings of 283.

The collapse started after skipper Virender Sehwag (56) departed with the score 229, Joshi bowling him neck and crop.

In their second essay, Karnataka started disastrously again, losing three wickets for a mere 63 runs. However, skipper Sujit Somasunder hit 54 before being caught and bowled by Sehwag. He added 71 runs for the fifth wicket with Tilak Naidu, who is still unbeaten.

Scorecard

Karnataka (1^st innings): 283

Delhi (1^st innings):
S Dhawan c Akhil b Joshi 82
A Chopra lbw Joshi 84
M Tehlan b Kumble 0
V Sehwag b Joshi 56
M Manhas c Aiyappa b Kumble 13
R Bhatia c Somasunder b Joshi 0
Varun Kumar b Kumble 0
A Sharma c Chipli b Joshi 4
C Nanda not out 1
Kunal Lal run out (Aiyappa) 1
A Bhandari lbw Joshi 4
Extras: (b 8, lb 1, nb 4) 13
Total: (all out, 91.3 overs, 341 mins) 258

Fall of wickets: 1-142, 2-142, 3-229, 4-241, 5-241, 6-246, 7-250, 8-253, 9-254, 10-258.

Bowling: Vinay Kumar 10-2-31-0, Aiyappa 11-3-41-0, Akhil 3-3-0-0, Kumble 32-6-89-3 (4nb), Joshi 30.3-7-73-6, Shinde 5-0-15-0.

Karnataka (2nd innings):
A Uthappa c Dhawan b Nanda 20
B Chipli lbw Nanda 36
B Rowland b Nanda 0
S Shinde b Sehwag 16
S Somasunder c & b Sehwag 54
V T Naidu not out 44
B Akhil not out 13
Extras: (b 1, lb 2, nb 10) 13
Total: (5 wickets, 75 overs) 196

To bat: R Vinay Kumar, NSC Aiyappa, A Kumble, SB Joshi.

Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-43, 3-63, 4-94, 5-165.

Bowling: Bhandari 8-1-35-0, Kunal Lal 4-1-14-0, Nanda 23-4-61-3, Sehwag 19-6-42-2 (10nb), Manhas 1-0-3-0, Sharma 16-3-34-0, Bhatia 4-1-4-0.