A fine century by southpaw Abhishek Nayar (105, 85 balls, 13 x 4, 2 x 6) and a gritty half century from opener Wasim Jaffer (50, 143 balls, 8 x 4) helped defending champions Mumbai gain a 111-run lead against Tamil Nadu in the Elite Group 'A' Ranji Trophy match in Chennai on Friday.
At close on the second day, the home team was 30 for one in eight overs in their second essay, with Dinesh Karthik unbeaten on 28 (31 balls, 5 x 4).
Still 80 runs in arrears, Tamil Nadu, which picked a solitary point in the drawn encounter against Maharashtra, has a mountain to climb to prevent Mumbai from scoring an outright win.
Resuming at the overnight score of 20 for no loss, Mumbai lost Sahil Kukreja (30) and Ajinkya Rahan (4) in quick succession and were reduced to 55 for two. But Jaffer and Amol Muzumdar (43, 68 balls, 5 x 4) steadied the innings with a 61- run stand for the third wicket in 18 overs.
A minor collapse ensued and the visitors were in a spot of bother at 155 for five. However, Nayar, with some exquisitely timed shots, resurrected the innings in a 72-run stand for the sixth wicket with Ajit Agarkar (22, 31 balls, 3 x 4, 1 x 6).
Tamil Nadu then hit back by dismissing Agarkar and Ramesh Powar to restrict the visitors to 228 for 7, only to see Nayar add another 74 for the eighth wicket in 14.3 overs with Vinayak Samant (39 not out, 72 balls 5 x 4) and take the team past the 300-mark.
For Tamil Nadu, left arm spinner Ramkumar claimed four wickets.
Scorecard
Tamil Nadu (1st Innings): 206
Mumbai (1st innings):
S O Kukreja c Karthik b Amarnath 30
Wasim Jaffer c Amarnath b Ramkumar 50
A M Rahane c Karthik b Naresh 4
Amol Muzumdar lbw b Ramkumar 43
P T Naik run out 8
A M Nayar c Vasudevadas b Ashwin 105
Ajit Agarkar b Amarnath 22
Ramesh Powar c Vijay b Ramkumar 0
V R Samant not out 39
I Abdulla c Amarnath b Ramkumar 8
Avishkar Salvi c Prasanna b Ashwin 0
Extras: (b-3, lb-3, w-1, nb-1) 8
Total: 317 all out in 90.1 overs.
Fall of wickets: 1-57, 2-66, 3-127, 4-138, 5-155, 6-227, 7-228, 8-302, 9-316, 10-317.
Bowling: V Yo Mahesh 17-6-52-0 P Amarnath 21-5-66-2 R Naresh 12-4-31-1 R Ashwin 15-0-58-2 R Ramkumar 23-3-88-4 S Badrinath 2-0-16-0.
Tamil Nadu (2nd Innings):
Dinesh Karthik not out 28
M Vijay c Samant b Powar 2
V Yo Mahesh not out 0.
Total: (for one wicket, in eight overs): 30.
Fall of wickets: 1-16.
Bowling: Ajit Agarkar 4-0-18-0 Avishkar Salvi 2-1-2-0 Ramesh Powar 2-0-10-1