Karnataka, spurred by its bowlers, including ace leg spinner Anil Kumble, defeated Delhi by 167 runs in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'A' match in Bangalore on Friday.

Kumble grabbed three wickets for 63 runs and combined with Sunil Joshi (3/24) and N C Aiyappa (2/20) to bundle out the visitors for 138 in 60.4 overs on the fourth and final day of the match.

Earlier, Karnataka declared their second innings at 280 for eight, setting Delhi a victory target of 306 runs.

Karnataka earned four points to take their tally to 12 from six outings.

Delhi, led by Virender Sehwag, began their reply on a disastrous note, losing opener Shikhar Dhawan for a duck.

Much was expected of Sehwag, but he was bowled by Akhil for 18.

Joshi, who bagged six wickets in the first innings, had a match haul of 9/97. He equalled the Ranji Trophy record of 343 wickets that stood in the name of Raghuram Bhat, when he scalped the wicket of Abhishek Sharma.

Bhat had achieved the feat in 71 matches, while Joshi set the milestone in 80 matches.

With the victory, Karnataka improved its chances of qualifying for the semi-finals, but it will have well against Gujarat in their last league match.

Scorecard

Karnataka (1st innings): 283

Delhi (1st innings): 258

Karnataka (2nd innings): overnight 196/5
R Uthappa c S Dhawan b C Nanda 20
B Chipli lbw C Nanda 36
B Rowland b C Nanda 0
S P Shinde B Sehwag 16
S Somasundar c and b Sehwag 54
V T Naidu c V Kumar b A Sharma 58
B Akhil b A Bhandary 47
S Joshi c A Chopra b K Lall 25
A Kumble not out 9
Extras: (b-1, lb-3, nb-11) 15
Total: (for 8 wickets decl) 280

Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-43, 3-63, 4-94, 5-165, 6-224, 7-265, 8-280

Bowling: Amit Bhandary 10-1-45-1, Kunal Lall, 5.4-1-18-1, Chetanya Nanda 26-4-76-3, Virender Sehwag 24-6-63-2, Mithun Manas 1-0-3-0, Abhishek Sharma 23-3-67-1, Rajat Bhatia 4-1-4-0.

Delhi (2nd innings):
S Dhawan c A Kumble b V Kumar 0
A Chopra c S Shinde b S Joshi 37
V Sehwag b BAkhil 18
M Manhas b Kumble 31
R Bhatia b Kumble 8
M Tehlan c R Uthappa b Kumble 7
V Kumar c R Uthappa b S Joshi 15
A Sharma c B Akhil b S Joshi 2
C Nanda b N C Aiyappa 11
K Lall b N C Aiyappa 03
A Bhandary not out 01
Extras: (b-1, lb-1, nb-3) 05
Total: (all out in 60.4 overs) 138

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-28, 3-77, 4-85, 5-102, 6-106, 7-122, 8-124, 9-137

Bowling: R Vinaykumar 4-1-13-1, N C Aiyappa 5.4-20-2, B Akhil 3-2-8-1, Sunil B Joshi 24-9-24-3, Anil Kumble 23-8-63-3, Sudhindra P Shinde 1-0-8-0.