Responsible knocks by skipper J Arunkumar and Roland Barrington helped hosts Karnataka score 126 runs for no loss against Bengal on a truncated opening day of their four-day Elite Group 'B' Ranji Trophy match at Mandya, Karnataka, today.

The start of play was delayed by at least four hours owing to wet pitch conditions following a heavy overnight downpour.

The umpires, Ravi Deshmukh and T R Kashyappan, inspected the pitch in the morning and ruled out play till afternoon, when another inspection led to play starting at 1400 IST.

Arunkumar and Barrington, who opened Karnataka's innings, started off with a flourish and hit the Bengal bowlers all round the park, much to the delight of the sizeable weekend crowd.

Arunkumar scored 50 runs off 145 balls with nine fours while Barringon (57) hit four boundaries and faced 144 deliveries to lay a sound foundation for their team.

Only 46 overs could be bowled on the day and play had to be called off even as two overs remained to be bowled owing to poor light.

A Ranji Trophy match is being held outside Bangalore after a gap of six years and the event has received overwhelming response from the locals.

Scoreboard:

Karnataka 1st innings
J Arunkumar  batting               50
R Barrington batting               57

Extras: (B-1, NB-14, WD 4)          19

Total: (for no loss in 46 overs)   126

Bowling: S S Paul 12-5-32-0, Sabir Ali 7-0-24-0, L R Shukla 8-3-18-0, U Chatterjee 12-2-27-0, S Sanyal 2-0-14-0, S Lahiri 5-1-10-0.