Down for the count, Mumbai, true to its enviable history of resilience, hung in grimly to stretch the Ranji Trophy semifinal into the fourth day.
As fans at the Chinnaswamy Stadium waited eagerly for a Karnataka triumph, the visitor rode on skipper Aditya Tare’s 98 (207b, 15x4) and the partnerships he strung, to stay alive through the third day.
At close on Friday, Mumbai scored 277 for six in its second innings.
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While the target of 445 is still far away, the manner in which Abhishek Nayar batted towards the end, defying medical advice to rest following a head injury, showed Mumbai’s intent to fight.
Resuming at 61 for no loss, Mumbai seemed at ease, especially with Tare driving his counterpart R. Vinay Kumar without fuss.
The host then secured its breakthrough in the sixth over of the day when Abhimanyu Mithun trapped Akhil Herwadkar.
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From 79 for one, Mumbai could well have stumbled to 79 for two, but Robin Uthappa dropped Shreyas Iyer and Mithun rued his bad luck.
Uthappa was keeping as C.M. Gautam could not take the field due to a hamstring strain.
The lost opportunity hurt Karnataka for a large part of the first session as Shreyas Iyer (50, 66b, 7x4) and Tare added 76 for the second wicket in over 132 deliveries.
Shreyas Iyer cover-drove Mithun, pulled S. Arvind and, with Tare, countered leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal, though the odd ball did beat the bat as well as Uthappa’s gloves.
Just as Mumbai seemed set for a comfortable lunch, Mithun dismissed Shreyas Iyer with a short ball that the batsman lobbed with a miscued pull. Heading into the break, Karnataka could breathe easy, though Mumbai was 166 for two.
In the afternoon, Mumbai’s slender hopes continued to rest on Tare, and while Suryakumar Yadav (36, 119b, 5x4) turned obdurate, the captain kept the total ticking over. Just as the host seemed a wee-bit lost, Arvind came around the wicket and forced an edge from Tare, who missed a deserving century.
Once Karnataka took the new ball, two more wickets fell. Mithun’s bouncer followed a leaning Suryakumar, who toppled and gloved to a diving Uthappa.
Vinay scalped Nikhil Patel just before tea, and after the break, Gopal castled Wilkin Mota.
But, the final nails could not be driven in as Nayar emerged.
He looked disoriented, but hung in for 51 minutes and 41 balls and, along with Siddhesh Lad (41 batting), ensured that Mumbai lived for another day.
The scores: Karnataka — 1st innings: 202 in 60.2 overs.
Mumbai — 1st innings: 44 in 15.3 overs.
Karnataka — 2nd innings: 286 in 77.5 overs.
Mumbai — 2nd innings: Aditya Tare c Uthappa b Arvind 98, Akhil Herwadkar lbw b Mithun 31, Shreyas Iyer c (sub) b Mithun 50, Suryakumar Yadav c Uthappa b Mithun 36, Siddhesh Lad (batting) 41, Nikhil Patel c Kunal b Vinay 0, Wilkin Mota b Shreyas 9, Abhishek Nayar (batting) 2; Extras (b-9, lb-1): 10; Total (for six wkts. in 107 overs): 277.
Fall of wickets: 1-79, 2-155, 3-194, 4-236, 5-237, 6-268.
Karnataka bowling: Vinay Kumar 27-6-75-1, Abhimanyu Mithun 27-13-49-3, S. Arvind 21-6-64-1, Shreyas Gopal 25-5-60-1, Karun Nair 3-0-10-0, R. Samarth 4-1-9-0.