Mumbai coach Pravin Amre believes the first session of day four holds the key to the Ranji Trophy final.
He said here on Wednesday "Pandey and Satish are batting well and we will have to break the partnership early. We could have been in a better position had Samant not dropped Pandey."
He highlighted the effort of the Mumbai lower-order in setting Karnataka a stiff target. "The lower-order has shown a lot of fight this season. We sent Dhawal early because he has a good defence. I believe he can develop into an all-rounder."
The Mumbai coach said Mumbai had good options in Ramesh Powar and Iqbal Abdulla if the surface begins to assist spin.
Amre felt Ajit Agarkar was bowling extremely well in the second innings. On the controversy following Agarkar's dismissal in the second innings, he said, "He (Agarkar) did not say anything. He was only pointing out what somebody else had done."
Later in the day, the umpires had a word with the Mumbai cricketers after they celebrated rather too vociferously following Agarkar's dismissal of Uthappa.
Karnataka coach Sanath Kumar said whichever side held its nerve on day four would emerge triumphant. "It's all about handling pressure. The pitch is playing easier and we too have a good chance from this situation."
Karnataka captain Robin Uthappa said the manner in which his team had batted on its way to the final this season instilled him with confidence. "We can win from here. Pandey and Satish and the rest of the line-up has the belief."
