WATCH | Ranji Trophy: Karnataka skipper Vinay Kumar's hat-trick blows Mumbai away on Day 1 of quarters

Mumbai, the most successful team in Ranji Trophy history, dug themselves a deep hole on the opening day of their quarter-final clash against Karnataka on Thursday.

Put into bat on a hazy morning at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur​, Mumbai were reduced to 7 for 3 inside the first 3 overs after Karnataka skipper Vinay Kumar picked up a magnificent hat-trick.

Kumar, playing in his 100th First Class match, bowled an impeccable opening spell to blow away Mumbai's young top-order.

First to go was the highly rated Prithvi Shaw. Playing away from his body to an away-moving delivery, Shaw edge a simple catch to Karun Nair at first slip. Jay Bista, the other Mumbai opener who has been among runs lately, was the next man to fall. The right-hander flashed hard in a similar manner to Shaw, only this time Nair pulled off a one-handed blinder in the slip cordon.

Kumar completed his hat-trick with a delivery that kept straight. All-rounder Akash Parkar, who was given a massive promotion up the order, was beaten all ends up as the ball crashed into his pads.

Kumar, though, wasn't finished as he went on to pick another three wickets. His 6 for 34 from 15 overs saw Mumbai getting bowled out for 173, with veteran fast-bowler Dhaval Kulkarni top-scoring with 75.

Karnataka had a solid start with the bat too. Opener Mayank Agarwal's unbeaten 62 meant his side finished the opening day's play at 115 for 1, merely 58 runs behind Mumbai's first innings total.

Twitter was full of praise for Kumar after his incredible performance on Thursday.

Here are some tweets

Three brilliant deliveries, three big wickets and Mumbai were straightaway on the backfoot owing to a @Vinay_Kumar_R special. WATCH the Karnataka captain's morning magic in @paytm #RanjiTrophy #QF4 #KARvMUM here - https://t.co/erPa0OOd0Y

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) December 7, 2017

What a champion @Vinay_Kumar_R A guy with lots of passion.. believer, hardworking.. congratulations on your 100th game and on ur hattrick as well today .. well done brother  https://t.co/MIpFhlnyaf

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) December 7, 2017

Hat-trick for @Vinay_Kumar_R! 

The Karnataka captain has put his side firmly on  against Mumbai in the quarter-final of the #RanjiTrophy clash. pic.twitter.com/SIRyPcV61i

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) December 7, 2017

Splendid blowing performance by @Vinay_Kumar_R to get hatrick. Love to watch #KARvMUM match. @RanjiKarnataka @Paytm #RanjiTrophy @BCCIdomestic pic.twitter.com/jSnjHJ9TcJ

— Anil Kumar M (@AniltheMatrix) December 7, 2017

.@Vinay_Kumar_R takes a hat-trick with his 6th, 7th, 8th balls, Mumbai 9/3!
What a start to the #RanjiTrophy2017 quarter-finals!#RanjiTrophy #MUMvKAR #KARvMUM

— Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) December 7, 2017

Wow, a hat-trick for Vinay Kumar against Mumbai early on the 1st morning. Struggling to place names on that Mumbai list

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 7, 2017

If Vinay Kumar had played for either Mumbai or Delhi, he would have played 50 Tests by now! #Justsaying #RanjiTrophy2017

— Avinash Ranganath (@avi_ranganath) December 7, 2017

Vinay Kumar is the 6th bowler to take a hat-trick in knockouts in Ranji Trophy and first to do it in more than 20 years.

Last hat-trick in knockouts: S Sensharma for Ben v Del in PQF 1993-94.

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) December 7, 2017

Vinay Kumar now has 22 five-wicket hauls in first-class cricket. A proper domestic giant, and Mumbai are 95/8. Karnataka's slip catching incidentally, has been a lot more reliable than India's! #RanjiTrophy

— Saurabh Somani (@saurabh_42) December 7, 2017