Uthappa's ton steers Karnataka to 299 for 3 on day one

New Delhi, Dec 17 (UNI) Robin Uthappa struck an unbeaten hundred as Karnataka recovered from early setbacks to make 299 for three before bad light stopped play on day one of the Ranji Trophy Super League -- Group A match against Delhi here today.

Karnataka opted to bat first in the four-day match and got off to disastrous start losing two quick wickets before Uthappa re-built the innings with his 161-run knock.

Chandrashekhar Raghu (87) provided him good support as the duo shared a 200-run partnership to steer Karnataka to safety on the first day.

For Delhi, Ashish Nehra grabbed two early wickets but the rest of the bowlers failed to make much impact as Uthappa and Raghu led the Karnataka recovery.

The visitors, however, made a very poor start and lost their opener Barrington Rowland for four. Karnataka had just nine runs on board before Nehra bowled the opener.

Next man in Bharat Chipli didn't last long either and departed without opening his account, falling to Nehra again. Chipli was caught by Virat Kohli, leaving Karnataka two down for nine.

His departure brought in Raghu, who -- along with Uthappa dropped the anchor -- as Karnataka made a comeback.

Uthappa scored at a brisk pace and his 219-ball innings included 23 hits to the fence. The right-hander's effort was well complemented by Raghu, who batted patiently to hold the other end.

Raghu's 87-run knock included 15 boundaries but he missed out on scoring a hundred and was caught by Akash Chopra off the bowling of Rajat Bhatia. His departure slowed down the proceedings and skipper Yere Goud took 119 deliveries for his 26.

Goud remained unbeaten along with Uthappa when stumps were drawn for the day.

Scoreboard: Karnataka 1st innings Barrington Rowland b Nehra 4 Robin Uthappa not out 161 Bharat Chipli c Kohli b Nehra 0 C Raghu c Chopra b Bhatia 87 Yere Goud not out 26 Extras (B-9, NB-12) 21 Total (For 3 wickets in 80.1 overs) 299 Fall of wickets: 1/9, 2/9, 3/209 Bowling Ashish Nehra 23.1-2-113-2 I Sharma 19-3-62-0 Kunal Lal 6-0-34-0 C Nanda 16-4-46-0 Rajat Bhatia 12-6-18-1 Mithun Manhas 4-1-17-0 UNI PM DH KP1838