After bowling Tamil Nadu out for 134, Karnataka were trailing by 89 runs with six wickets in hand at the end of first day’s play in the Ranji Trophy 2014-15 final at the Wankhede Stadium. Opting to bowl first at the Wankhede Stadium, Karnataka skipper, Vinay Kumar claimed five for 34 including four of the top half of TN’s line-up while Abhimanyu Mithun picked three for 54 to bowl the opposition out. However, led by the experienced L Balaji (three for 10), Tamil Nadu made their way back into the game. Complemented by P Parameswaran who struck early to leave Karnataka on 16 for three inside six overs. And with the tall pacer striking once again before stumps, Karnataka were 45 for four at close of play on Sunday. Karnataka openers R Samarth and KL Rahul had taken the side to 16 when the latter retired hurt in the fourth over. Karnataka then lost three wickets without adding to the runs tally. Samarth, who had slammed Parameswaran for three boundaries in the previous over, edged Balaji to Murali Vijay at second slip to depart for 14. In the following over, Shishir Bhavane edged Parameswaran to Baba Indrajith at third slip to return for naught. Robin Uthappa followed him back in the next over. The wicketkeeper-batsman edged Balaji to Indrajith in the slips to return without opening his account. With the team tottering on 16 for three, Karun Nair joined Manish Pandey in the middle. But 15 runs later, Pandey was caught by Baba Aparajith in the covers giving Balaji his third wicket of the evening. With Abhimanyu Mithun (14*), Nair (9*) then saw the team through to stumps. Four wicket down and a key batsmen retired hurt, Karnataka face an uphill task. Earlier, Vinay dealt early blows to leave the opposition gasping on 21 for two. Making optimal use of the conditions early on, Vinay and Mithun had the opposition on the edge from the word go. Karnataka missed the opportunity to send back Abhinav Mukund in the second over as Pandey at second slip let off the opener off Abhimanyu Mithun. And the TN captain held up one until he was sent dismissed half way through the second session. Vinay claimed the prized wicket of Vijay; trapped lbw for five to give his side a vital breakthrough. The wicket brought to crease young Baba Aparajith to negotiate the early movement and bounce in Mumbai. However, with an in-swinging delivery Vinay toppled the bail to send back TN’s No 3. Dinesh Karthik who then came to the crease was adjudged out caught behind off HS Sharath for 11. Vinay came back into the attack and trapped Vijay Shankar lbw in a wicket-maiden in the first over of his second spell. While batsmen caved in at the other end, Abhinav had dropped anchor and took the side to Lunch on 60 for four with R Prasanna. Karnataka continued to dominate in the second session. Sreenath Aravind induced an edge off Prasanna’s bat through to the wicketkeeper. With the team floundering on 63 for five, Indrajith joined his captain’s efforts in salvaging the innings in the sixth over post lunch. However the partnership lasted for 40 balls yielding just six runs until Vinay ended his opposite number’s resistance. And Vinay who had been bowling impeccably since match commenced became only the sixth pacer to take 300 wickets in Ranji Trophy. The incoming delivery rattled the opener’s wood work to send him back for 35 off 137. In the latter half of the second session, at 79 for six, Vinay introduced spin in the guise of Shreyas Gopal into the game as Karnataka looked to wrap-up the opposition. It was yet again a pacer that helped Karnataka to claim another wicket. A little before tea, Mithun struck to remove Malolan Rangarajan with a short pitched delivery; even as the batsmen looked to fend, the ball took the glove and was caught by Uthappa behind the wickets. He struck again in the first over after tea to remove Indrajith. After driving the previous delivery to the fence, the middle-order bat departed hitting straight to Shreyas Gopal in front of square-leg. Three overs later Balaji was Mithun’s next scalp to leave Tamil Nadu on 123 for nine. Aswin Crist, who then swung his bat to pick a boundary and a six was the last man to get out in the next over. Vinay’s deliver brushed past the inside edge and went high in the air and Uthappa took the catch to wrap-up Tamil Nadu’s first innings. Brief scores: End of Day 1: TN 1st inn 134 all out in 62.4 overs (A Mukund 35, Vinay Kumar 5/34, A Mithun 3/54); Karnataka 1st inn 45/4 in 14 overs (A Mithun 14*, L Balaji 3/10)