Tailenders Tanush Kotian and Tushar Deshpande entered the record books with a century each but it was their team's slender first-innings lead against Baroda that propelled Mumbai into the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy in Mumbai on Tuesday.
With the contest ending in a draw on the fifth and final day at the BKC Ground, Mumbai made it to the final four on the virtue of first-innings lead.
Mumbai will take on Tamil Nadu in the second semi-final at the same venue while Vidarbha will host Madhya Pradesh in the first semis.
Mumbai had taken a lead of 36 runs in the first innings after Baroda were bowled out for 348 in reply to the hosts' 384.
The match was called off at tea with Baroda reaching 121/3 in an improbable chase of 606 on the final day, with Musheer Khan being adjudged the player of the match for his unbeaten 203 in the first innings.
A thrilling final day was on cards when Mumbai resumed play at 379/9 with Kotian unbeaten on 32 and Deshpande on 23.
Having come together in the middle with Mumbai leading by 373 overall, the pair went about its job with ease to pile up further misery on the Baroda side.
Mumbai's No 10 and 11 Kotian and Deshpande recorded their maiden first-class hundreds while adding 232 runs for the 10th wicket, which came off only 240 balls.
But Kotian and Deshpande fell just one run short of equalling the record for highest partnership for the 10th wicket, which is held by the pair of Ajay Sharma and Maninder Singh.
Kotian remained unbeaten on 120 from 129 balls with 10 fours and four sixes and the pair was separated only when Deshpande was dismissed by Ninad Rathva for 123 from 129 balls, hitting 10 fours and eight sixes.
Brief scores: Mumbai 384 & 569 in 132 overs (Hardik Tamore 114, Prithvi Shaw 87, Tanush Kotian 120, Tushar Deshpande 123) drew with Baroda 348 & 121/3 in 30 overs.
Vidarbha rout Karnataka
Vidarbha completed a 128-run hammering of Karnataka to cruise to the Ranji Trophy semi-final, riding on splendid four-wicket hauls by Harsh Dubey and Aditya Sarwate in Nagpur on Tuesday.
It was a memorable win for the hosts at the VCA Stadium at Civil Lines as Vidarbha came from behind on the final day to stop Karnataka in their tracks with a flurry of wickets.
Chasing a massive 371 to win, Karnataka were bowled out for 243 in their second innings.
Karnataka were firmly in the hunt resuming the final day on 103/1, but a spectacular batting collapse ended their hopes.
With 268 more required for victory and nine wickets in hand, Karnataka would have backed themselves to cross the line but Dubey and Sarwate ran through their batting line-up to deliver a huge win for Vidarbha.
Inside the first hour's play, Karnataka lost the fulcrum of their batting unit including skipper Mayank Agarwal (70), Nikin Jose (0) and Manish Pandey (1) in a short span, with Sarwate (4/78) accounting for each of them.
Aneesh K V tried to stabilise the innings from one end but the No. 3 batter was run out for 40, which dealt a body blow to Karnataka's hopes of winning the game.
Dubey (4/65) then got into the act to run through Karnataka's lower order, starting with the key wicket of Raj, following it up with the dismissal of wicketkeeper-batter S Sharath for 6.
The pair of Vijay Kumar Vyshak (34) and Vidwath Kaverappa (25) tried to delay the inevitable with a 33-run stand but Dubey kept chipping away with wickets to complete a fine four-wicket haul.
For his seven-wicket haul in the game, Sarwate was named the player of the match.
