Former champions Mumbai took early command in their crucial and penultimate Ranji Trophy Super League match against Rajasthan by bundling out the visitors for a meagre 155 and then making a sound reply on the opening day of the four-day tie in Mumbai on Tuesday.
At stumps, the home team was 93 for 2, with left-handed debutant Hiken Shah (26) and captain Amol Muzumdar (14) at the crease.
Mumbai, 36-time winners of the national cricket championship, shot out Rajasthan in 46.5 overs, as only England opener Vikram Solanki stood tall for Rajasthan amidst the ruins with a patient 77.
A fit-again Ajit Agarkar started Rajasthan's slide, after they opted to bat first, by taking two wickets in three balls before fellow-medium pacer Swapnil Hazare ripped out the middle order with a four-wicket haul.
Abhishek Nair, under-bowled by Muzumdar, came back for a second spell to polish off the tail and terminate the Rajasthan innings after lunch. He claimed three wickets.
Barring Solanki, who was ninth out after striking 14 fours, the Rajasthan batting was pathetic against the moving ball.
In reply, Mumbai openers Sahil Kukreja (30) and Vinayak Mane (20) put on 45 runs to see off the shine on the new ball.
The good work continued after their dismissals as the third wicket pair of Shah and Muzumdar added 32 runs before close.
The two wickets to fall in the Mumbai innings were shared by medium pacers Sumit Mathur and Afroz Khan.
Scorecard
Rajasthan (1st innings):
V Solanki c Samant b Nair 77
G Khoda b Agarkar 12
N Gehlot lbw Agarkar 0
N Doru lbw Hazare 0
Afroz Khan c Samant b Nair 10
R Kanwat run out 8
A Jadeja c Samant b Hazare 5
Pankaj Singh b Hazare 10
R Jhalani c Kukreja b Hazare 4
Mohd Aslam not out 8
S Mathur c Samant b Nair 5
Extras: (b 6, lb 7, nb 3) 16
Total: (all out in 46.5 overs) 155
Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-37, 3-38, 4-76, 5-91, 6-96, 7-110, 8-117, 9-149.
Bowling: Agarkar 15-1-60-2, Hazare 16-3-50-4, Nair 8.5-2-18-3, Kulkarni 2-0-5-0, Powar 5-1-9-0.
Mumbai (1st innings):
S Kukreja lbw Mathur 30
V Mane c Pankaj Singh b Afroz Khan 20
Hiken Shah batting 26
A Muzumdar batting 14
Extras: (lb 1, nb 2) 3
Total: (for 2 wkts, in 41 overs) 93
Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-61
Bowling: Pankaj Singh 12-4-24-0, Mathur 8-2-18-1, Aslam 9-4-19-0, Kanwat 3-0-5-0, Afroz 6-2-17-1, Jadeja 3-1-9-0.