Debutant Yogesh Sachdeva's five-wicket burst helped Delhi win the first round of battle against Railways in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'A' tie in New Delhi on Sunday.

- Ranji Trophy 2005-06: Complete coverage

The defending champions, however, hit back through their trusted left-arm spinner Murali Kartik [Images] (5-38) to keep themselves in hunt after an absorbing opening day's play at the Karnail Singh Stadium.

At stumps, Delhi were 117 for seven, a handy lead of 40 runs on a lethal track after bowling out the hosts for a paltry 77.

Wicketkeeper batsman Varun Kumar on eight and Chetanya Nanda on one were at the crease when play was stopped due to bad light on a truncated day.

The start of play was delayed by an hour and a half due to damp spots on the pitch. But the crowd of a hundred odd people was well entertained as they saw 17 wickets fall on the opening day.

Local hero Virender Sehwag [Images] made only 15 but that small innings and his brief 25-minute stay at the crease ensured Delhi of a first innings lead.

And Sehwag's guiding hand could be seen in the way Delhi bounced back from the humiliating defeat at the hands of Gujarat in the last match at Ferozeshah Kotla.

And from the moment Aakash Chopra opened the attack, the team executed their plan to perfection.

Sachdeva (5-20) claimed a wicket in the very first delivery of his Ranji Trophy career. The 22-year old off-spinner picked a wicket each in his next two overs to rip the Railways top order.

Scoreboard:

Railways 1st innings:
S Bangar c Dhawan b Bhandari            8
A Pagnis c Dhawan b Nanda               9
V Saxena c Tehlan b Sachdeva            1
J P Yadav c Tehlan b Sachdeva          12
M Ali LBW b Nanda                       0
Y Goud LBW b Sachdeva                  12
S Khanolkar c Manhas b Nanda            6
S Rao c Nanda b Sachdeva                7
M Kartik c Tehlan b Sachdeva           11
S Wankhede c sub (Rawat) b Sharma       2
K Parida not out                        0
Extras (b-8, nb-1)                      9
Total (all out in 34.3 overs)          77
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-23, 3-29, 4-29, 5-46, 6-53, 7-53, 8-70, 9-73.

Bowling: Amit Bhandari 9-5-23-1, Aakash Chopra 3-2-3-0, Chetanya Nanda 10-2-19-3, Yogesh Sachdeva 8.3-2-20-5, Abhishek Sharma 4-1-4-1.

Delhi 1st innings:
S Dhawan c Wankhede b Parida            38
G Gambhir c Pagnis b Kartik             15
A Chopra c and b Kartik                  7
M Manhas c Yadav b Kartik               12
V Sehwag c Wankhede b Kartik            15
M Tehlan c Yadav b Kartik                5
V Kumar batting                          8
A Sharma c Yadav b Parida                7
C Nanda batting                          1
Extras (lb-5, nb-4)                      9
Total (for 7 wickets in 48 overs)      117
Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-51, 3-74, 4-96, 5-101, 6-101, 7-114.

Bowling: J P Yadav 5-1-9-0, Sanjay Bangar 2-0-3-0, Murali Kartik 22-8-38-5, Kulamani Parida 13-3-39-2, Shankar Rao 6-2-13-0.