Thanks to their pacers Vidwath Kaverappa and Vysakh Vijaykumar gave them a foothold against Vidarbha with splendid spells on the fourth day.
Chasing a massive target of 371 to win, Karnataka were 103 for one at close with captain Mayank Agarwal (61) and KV Aneesh (1) at the crease. They further need 268 runs with nine wickets in hand on Tuesday for a remarkable victory. This is not an easy task but having started the day 234 runs in arrears, Karnataka has momentum in its favour.
But Karnataka should profusely thank Kaverappa (6/61) and Vijaykumar (4/81) for force opening the door while bowling out Vidarbha for 196 in their second innings.
Vidarbha started the day on a strong note at 50 for no loss and ahead by 224 runs.
But the dismissal of opener Dhruv Shorey (57, 98b, 3x4) triggered a collapse as Kaverappa and Vijaykumar ripped through Vidarbha innings with an incisive effort.
The home side lost remaining eight wickets for adding a mere 103 runs in a little less than two sessions and that gave Karnataka a reasonable opening. Vidarbha paid a heavy price for being much too defensive. The sole goal with the bat was to block, which allowed Karnataka to keep the pressure on.
Karnataka still needed to 371 to win but Agarwal and Ravikumar Samarth went after the target in all earnestness adding 101 runs in 23.4 overs.
They scored at nearly five runs an over as Vidarbha bowlers began to wilt under the onslaught.
However, Samarth was castled by left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate minutes before stumps to give some relief to Vidarbha.
Brief scores: Vidarbha: 460 & 196 all out in 57.2 overs (Dhruv Shorey 57, Karun Nair 34; Vidwath Kaverappa 6/61, Vysakh Vijayakumar 4/81) vs Karnataka: 286 & 103/1 in 26 overs (Mayank Agarwal 61 batting, R Samarth 40).