Hosts Karnataka were in the driver's seat after picking four Himachal Pradesh wickets for a mere 117 at the close of play in reply to their mammoth 452 for nine declared in the Ranji Trophy Elite 'A' match held in M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Friday.

Ajay Manu (16) and Manvinder Bisla (11) were unbeaten at close of play.

Resuming at 271 for four, the Karnataka batsman continued to send Himachal Pradesh bowlers on a leather hunt, adding 181 runs before skipper Anil Kumble declared the innings.

The highlight of the day's play was an immaculate century by Thilak Naidu (105), which included a huge six and 16 hits to the fence during his 231-minute stay which facing 137 balls.

Naidu also accounted for an 85-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Yere Goud (23).

Himachal Pradesh still need more than 180 runs to avoid follow-on, while Karnataka can go all way to register an outright victory.

The Karnataka bowlers, including Anil Kumble, Vinay Kumar, Aiyappa and Sunil Joshi bagged one wicket each, while for visitors opener Munish Gupta (42) was the highest scorer.

Scorecard

Karnataka (1st innings): (overnight: 271-4)
B Rowland c Bisla b Malik 7
KB Pawan b Bhatia 56
R Dravid b Malik 121
C Raghu c Mukesh Sharma b Bhatia 58
Y Goud c Dogra b Bhatia 23
T Naidu b Bhatia 105
B Akhil c & b Bhatia 22
S Joshi c Thakur b Bhatia 14
A Kumble b Malik 1
R Vinay Kumar not out 11
NSC Aiyappa not out 6.
Extras (b 16, lb 4, w 2, nb 6) 28
Total: (452 for 9 wickets declared in 139 overs)

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-150, 3-242, 4-257, 5-342, 6-403, 7-423, 8-427, 9-434.

Bowling: A Thakur 33-5-82-0, V Malik 36-11-103-3, Sangram Singh 4-1-12-0, Sarandeep Singh 19-3-90-0, V Bhatia 45-10-129-6, Mukesh Sharma 1-0-10-0, Sandeep Sharma 1-0-6-0.

Himachal Pradesh (1st innings):
M Gupta c Naidu b Joshi 42
Sandeep Sharma c Dravid b Aiyappa 21
Sangram Singh c Dravid b Kumble 7
P Dogra lbw b Vinay Kumar 3
A Mannu not out 16
MS Bisla not out 11.
Extras: (b 8, lb 4, pen 5) 17
Total: (172 for 4 wickets in 40 overs)

Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-76, 3-79, 4-90.

Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 11-4-24-1, NSC Aiyappa 6-0-25-1, A Kumble 11-2-38-1, S Joshi 8-3-8-1, B Akhil 4-3-5-0.