Mumbai ended day 2 of the Irani Trophy match against Rest of India in the driver's seat.
The 95-run first innings lead the reigning Ranji Trophy champions secured after dismissing Rest of India for 202 will almost make sure they remain in command for the rest of the match.
In their second innings, Mumbai were 11 for no loss.
Earlier, the Mumbai innings recieved a boost from Robin Morris, who scored 31 off 48 deliveries, including three fours and a huge six off leg-spiner Anil Kumble.
Aavishkar Salvi, the genuine number eleven, held his own at the other end as Mumbai edged their way towards the 300-run mark. But Morris holed out to Harbhajan Singh ,off the bowling of Lakshmipathy Balaji. Balaji was brought on to replace Kumble, who conceded 18 runs in his two overs.
Sanjay Bangar and Virender Sehwag walked out to open the Rest of India innings. The two are a complete antithesis of each other in terms of the way they play their cricket. Bangar, ever watchful, while Sehwag, always ready to take on the bowlers.
So the start was predictable. A blazing cover drive off Salvi marked the start of Sehwag's innings and the spectators primed themselves for some exciting strokeplay. But it was not to be.
After scoring 16 off 14 balls, with three boundaries, Sehwag was unable to get on top of a short of length delivery and only managed to chop the ball back on to his leg stump. Rest of India were reduced to 16 for 1 after 5.2 overs.
Rahul Dravid came in next. The India number three showed exactly why he is so highly regarded. In Bangar and Dravid, Rest of India have two of the most composed batsmen in Indian cricket, and it showed as the two dealt harshly with the bad deliveries but refused to be tempted to go for their shots.
Spin was introduced as early as the 10th over and Sairaj Bahutule started off with a maiden. But neither spin nor pace came anywhere close to effecting a breakthrough.
At lunch, Rest of India were 62 runs off 24 overs, at 2.58 runs per over.
A 71-run partnership between Dravid and Bangar had seen Rest of India gain a semblance of control over Friday's proceedings before lunch, but then, a brilliant spell of bowling by Ramesh Powar not only limited the damage but also put Mumbai in the fancied position they are in.
Before lunch there was nothing in the Mumbai bowling to suggest anything of the sort. But things changed and how?
Off-spinner Powar, bowling with undeniable grace, flighted the ball very well in his unbroken spell of 20 overs, which saw him claim four wickets. It is precisely this aspect of bowling that was missing from Kumble and Harbhajan's armoury, when the two bowled in Mumbai's first innings.
Powar's control of spin and flight placed him a notch above the rest of the bowlers on view. He gently teased the batsmen to go for their strokes even as he plotted to claim their wicket.
Dravid was the first to fall, when he tried to drive the ball on the up but failed to keep it down and hit it straight to Tendulkar, who moved to his right to claim a good catch.
At the other end, Bangar had been moving along at a slow, steady pace when a sudden loss of concentration saw him lose his wicket.
Morris, bowling with great heart and consistency from over the wicket, got one to slant across Bangar and, for once, the batsman could not resist. Bangar finally yielded to temptation and was heading back to the pavilion after only succeeding to guide the ball into Vinayak Mane's hands.
Next to go was Sourav Ganguly. The Rest of India skipper was caught in two minds by a Powar delivery and merely patted the ball straight to Nishit Shetty at silly point.
That brought VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh together. The two may very well be fighting for a spot in the India Test squad. But Laxman looked out of sorts against an in-form Powar, who had a hand in his dismissal, taking a brilliant catch off the bowling of Ajit Agarkar. Laxman departed after scoring five runs off 53 deliveries.
Yuvraj hit a few good strokes in his innings and looked in no trouble at all, but Powar was bowling so well that eventually something had to happen; either Powar would be hit out of the attack or Yuvraj would get out. The latter happened. The tiny offie extracted wicked turn and bounce from the Chidambaran stadium pitch to leave Yuvraj with no choice as the ball took the edge and flew straight to Jaffer at first slip.
From then on, Rest of India lost wickets regularly. But for a 43-run partnership between Zaheer (34 off 41 balls) and Balaji (12 off 23 balls) Mumbai's lead would have been even more.
Rest of India's bowlers will have to bowl very well to fight back into the match, and it would be very interesting to see how Harbhajan performs in the circumstances.
Scoreboard
Mumbai (1st innings):
V Mane c Kumble b Bangar 26
W Jaffer b Balaji 43
N Shetty c Shewag b Zaheer 5
S Tendulkar c Dravid b Zaheer 94
V Kambli lbw Zaheer 2
A Agarkar c Patel b Zaheer 0
S Bahutule c Laxman b Kumble 58
R Morris c Harbhajan b Balaji 31
R Pawar b Kumble 0
V Sawant lbw Zaheer 4
A Salve not out 2
Extras (b-16, lb-3, nb-13): 32
Total (all out in 97.2 overs): 297
Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-59, 3-91, 4-98, 5-98, 6-247, 7-260, 8-260, 9-265.
Bowling: Zaheer 24-6-77-5; Balaji 20.2-6-47-2; Bangar 10-2-35-1; Ganguly 9-5-11-0; Kumble 22-6-64-2; Harbhajan 12-2-44-0.
Rest of India (1st innings):
S Bangar c Mane b Morris 29
V Shewag b Salvi 16
R Dravid c Tendulkar b Powar 41
V V S Laxman c Powar b Agarkar 5
S Ganguly c Shetty b Powar 0
Yuvraj Singh c Jaffer b Powar 27
P Patel c Samant b Salvi 26
A Kumble lbw Agarkar 1
Harbhajan Singh lbw Powar 4
Zaheer Khan c Shetty b Bahutule 34
L Balaji not out 12
Extras (b-2, nb-2, w-3): 7
Total (all out in 73.2 overs) 202
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-87, 3-89, 4-90, 5-123, 6-125, 7-134, 8-141, 9-159.
Bowling: Ajit Agarkar 18-7-29-2; Avishkar Salvi 13-3-52-2; Sairaj Bahatule 9.2-1-35-1; Robin Morris 10-2-23-1; Ramesh Pawar 23-6-61-4.
Mumbai (2nd innings):
V Mane batting 6
W Jaffer batting 1
Extras (b-4): 4
Total (for no loss in 4 overs): 11
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 2-0-5-0; L Balaji 1-1-0-0; Harbhajan Singh 1-0-2-0.
