Siddhesh Lad (94 batting) and Nikhil Patil (85 batting) put on 175 in an unbeaten sixth-wicket stand as Mumbai ended the first day of its Ranji Trophy Group-A match against Karnataka at 342 for five on Friday.
The visitors had made the batsmen pay for their indiscretions, reducing the host to 167 for five at one stage.
Vinay Kumar rocked Mumbai early with a wicket off the fifth ball, snaring Shrideep Mangela. In the 12th over, he sent back Shreyas Iyer having him caught behind.
However, skipper Aditya Tare looked in terrific form at the other end. His half-century included 11 hits to the fence. When on 72, Tare played one attacking shot too many. He had a go at a ball on off-stump which had turn and bounce, only for point to complete a slick catch. Vinay Kumar’s ploy of using Shreyas Gopal’s leg-spin had paid off.
After pottering about for 48 deliveries in making 19, Suryakumar Yadav fell leg-before attempting a sweep against off-spinner Udit Patel.
Abishek Nayar, too, perished in an attempt to break the shackles after a 112-ball 36, giving Patel his second wicket.
With half the line-up back in the pavilion, greenhorns Lad and Patil set about repairing the damage.
Playing his 11th First Class game, the 22-year-old Lad survived a nervy phase early on; he was lucky to survive on a couple of occasions, but settled down thereafter to end the day six short of a maiden ton. His faced 119 deliveries and hit 18 boundaries.
At the other end, Patil showed similar application. Drawing from the confidence of a half-century against Baroda on his debut in Mumbai’s previous match, the 25-year-old calmly went about the task; his 129-ball knock included two sixes and 14 fours.
The scores: Mumbai — 1st innings: Shrideep Mangela c Uthappa b Vinay 4, Aditya Tare c Samarth b Gopal 72, Shreyas Iyer c Gautam b Vinay 20, Abhishek Nayar c Pandey b Patel 36, Suryakuamr Yadav lbw b Patel 19, Siddhesh Lad (batting) 94, Nikhil Patel (batting) 85, Extras (b-6, lb-5, w-1) 12; Total (for five wickets in 90 overs) 342.
Fall of wkts: 1-4, 2-53, 3-128, 4-158, 5-167.
Karnataka bowling: Vinay Kumar 17-4-65-2, A. Mithun 15-5-52-0, Shreyas Gopal 14-1-71-1, S. Aravind 21-2-73-0, Udit Patel 22-1-68-2, R. Samarth 1-0-2-0.
