Zaheer Khan produced a scintillating spell of fast bowling to put Mumbai in the driver's seat on day two of the Ranji Trophy Super League final against Bengal at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.
Making his debut for Mumbai, the left-arm paceman took five for 40 to bundle out the visitors for a paltry 143.
Mumbai reached a healthy 113 for 2 in their second innings, to build an imposing lead of 290 runs with eight wickets in hand and three more days to go.
Earlier, Mumbai resuming at 281 for 5, collapsed in the morning session, losing their last five wickets for 39 runs to be bowled out for 320.
Pacer Ranadeb Bose did the most damage, claiming 4 for 77. Sourav Sarkar and Sourasish Lahiri gave him good support, taking 2 for 76 and 2 for 69 respectively.
Bengal began on a disastrous note.
Captain Deep Dasgupta fell in the first over of the innings to a quick, rising delivery from Ajit Agarkar.
Zaheer then claimed three quick wickets to reduce Bengal to 28 for 4 in the 10th over.
The most prized wicket was that of batting mainstay Sourav Ganguly; Zaheer sent his stumps crashing off the first delivery he faced. The in-form Manoj Tiwari offered brief resistance, scoring 42, and rallied with the tail-enders before Bengal were bowled out for 143, giving Mumbai a handy 143-run first innings lead.
In the second innings, Mumbai yet again lost opener Sahil Kukreja cheaply. He was caught behind off Bose for 5.
However, Wasim Jaffer and Rohit Sharma put on a brisk 107-run stand to put the hosts in a position of strength to the delight of the home fans.
Youngster Sharma, in particular, impressed with his wide array of strokes, scoring 57 from 85 balls, with seven boundaries and a six.
At close, Jaffer was unbeaten on 50, to follow up on his century in the first innings.
The hero of the day was Zaheer, as he dished out a memorable performance in his first match for Mumbai.
"I always wanted to play for Mumbai," Zaheer said after the day's play. "In 1996 I played a few club matches and then I had wanted to play for Mumbai. But things didnt work out. I played a few seasons for Baroda after that, but it was always on my mind that I wanted to play for Mumbai," he said.
Zaheer, who has been in top form, ever since he has made it back to the Indian team for the tour of South Africa said his stint in county cricket last year for Worcestershire had helped him a lot.
"The county season helped me a lot. I bowled a lot of overs and picked up many wickets. It helped me boost my confidence."
His stint at the English county reaped him a rich haul of 100 wickets in all competitions.
Scorecard
Mumbai, 1st innings:
S Kukreja c Jhunjhunwala b Bose 0
W Jaffer c Arindam Das b Lahiri 112
W Mota lbw b Bose 8
S Tendulkar c Shukla b Lahiri 105
A Muzumdar lbw b Ganguly 31
R Sharma run out 14
A Nair c Dasgupta b Sarkar 15
V Samant c Dasgupta b Bose 0
R Powar b Sarkar 9
Zaheer Khan c Dasgupta b Bose 9
A Agarkar not out 3
Extras (lb 1, w 1, nb 12) 14
Total (all out in 98.4 overs) 320
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-14, 3-201, 4-268, 5-268, 6-298, 7-298, 8-299, 9-314.
Bowling: R Bose 29-9-77-4, S Sarkar 21.4-5-76-2, S Ganguly 16-4-30-1, A Dinda 16-5-67-0, S Lahiri 16-0-69-2.
Bengal, 1st innings:
D Dasgupta c Sharma b Agarkar 0
Arindam Das c Samant b Zaheer 7
A Jhunjhunwala c Samant b Zaheer 2
M Tiwary lbw b Mota 42
S Ganguly b Zaheer 0
R Gavaskar c Samant b Zaheer 21
L R Shukla c Samant b Zaheer 0
S Lahiri run out 22
S Sarkar c Agarkar b Nair 25
R Bose c Kukreja b Powar 1
A Dinda not out 22
Extras (nb 1) 1
Total (all out in 32.1 overs) 143
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-3, 3-28, 4-28, 5-72, 6-72, 7-72, 8-106, 9-108.
Bowling: A Agarkar 10-2-42-1, Zaheer Khan 11-2-40-5, W Mota 4-0-21-1, A Nair 3-0-18-1, R Powar 4.1-0-22-1.
Mumbai, 2nd innings:
S Kukreja c Dasgupta b Bose 5
W Jaffer not out 50
R Sharma b Dinda 57
W Mota not out 0
Extras (lb 1) 1
Total (for 2 wickets; 30 overs) 113
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-113.
Bowling: R Bose 8-2-26-1, S Sarkar 2-0-8-0, A Dinda 13-3-36-1, S Lahiri 4-0-33-0, S Ganguly 3-0-9-0
