An unbeaten century by opener Parthiv Patel and his 142-run partnership with Manoj Tiwary helped Rest of India fight back in their Irani Trophy match against Mumbai in Rajkot on Sunday.
After Mumbai were all out for 453, Rest of India had a poor start losing top three wickets cheaply before Patel did the rescue work partnering Subramanian Badrinath (29 runs, 52balls, 4x4, 1x6) and then with Tiwary to take his team to 292 for 4 at stumps on day two.
Opener Aakash Chopra failed to open his account as he fell to Rajesh Verma. Skipper Mohammad Kaif (18) and Suresh Raina (17) also got out cheaply to Ajit Agarkar and Verma respectively as Rest of India were tottering at 64 for 3.
Patel and Badrinath then repaired the damage with a 86-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Later, Patel got useful support from Tiwary. The wicketkeeper completed his century off 120 balls with the help of 18 fours and was unbeaten on 161 (204b) at close of play.
Tiwary consumed 104 balls for his unbeaten 56, which included six fours and two towering sixes.
Rest of India still trail by 161 with six wickets in hand.
For Mumbai, medium pacer Verma took two wickets conceding 49 runs, while Agarkar and Iqbal Abdullah got a wicket each.
Ramesh Powar failed to impress and gave away 68 runs off his 12 overs without getting a wicket.
Earlier, resuming at their overnight score of 385 for 8, Mumbai batsmen Powar and Abdullah continued to frustrate Rest of India bowlers.
Powar 45 (50b, 6x4, 1x6) was first man to be dismissed followed by Verma 9. Abdullah remained unbeaten on 56 with seven fours and two sixes.
Ishant Sharma and Ranadeb Bose captured three wickets each for Rest of India giving away 63 runs and 106 runs respectively, while left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha got two for 114 runs.
Scoreboard:
Mumbai first innings (overnight 385 for 8):
Sahil Kukreja run out 110
Ajinkya Rahane lbw b Bose 52
Wasim Jaffer c Kaif b Bose 8
Amol Muzumdar lbw b Ozha 8
Prashant Naik lbw b Sharma 12
Abhishek Nair c Sharma b Ozha 118
Ramesh Powar c Patel b Sharma 45
Ajit Agarkar c Raina b Bose 4
Omkar Guruv c Patel b Sharma 0
Iqbal Abdullah not out 56
Rajesh Verma lbw b Mishra 9
Extras (b-2, lb-9, nb-17, w-3) 31
Total (all out, 101.2 overs) 453
Fall of wickets: 1-91, 2-109, 3-150, 4-165, 5-336, 6-338, 7-342, 8-359, 9-410, 10-453.
Bowling: Munaf Patel 19.5-0-96-0, Ranadeb Bose 25.1-4-106-3, Ishant Sharma 22-6-63-3, Pragyan Ojha 21-0-114-2, Amit Mishra 8.2-0-43-1, S Badrinath 5-0-20-0.
Rest of India first innings:
Parthiv Patel not out 161
Akash Chopra c Naik b Verma 0
Mohd Kaif lbw b Agarkar 18
Suresh Raina bowled Verma 17
S Badrinath lbw Abdullah 29
Manoj Tiwary not out 56
Extras (lb-5, nb-2, w-4) 11
Total (for 4 wickets, 70 overs) 292
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-33, 3-64, 4-150.
Bowling: Ajit Agarkar 14-2-68-1, Rajesh Verma 14-2-49-2, Abhishek Nair 12-3-48-0, Ramesh Powar 12-0-68-0, Iqbal Abdullah 17-3-51-1, Ajinkya Rahane 1-0-3-0.