Tendulkar on 213 as match remains evenly poised

Sachin Tendulkar carried Mumbai's hopes on the third day of the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Tamil Nadu at the Wankhede stadium on Thursday. Moving from 34 to 213, he anchored the home team to a score of 470 for eight at close of play. This was in reply to Tamil Nadu's first innings total of 485.

Old school chums Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli batted throughout the morning as Mumbai progressed from 141 for four to 262. The partnership that took Mumbai towards safety ended abruptly when Kambli top edged a pull shot just after lunch. Mediumpacer Mahesh surprised him with a quick bouncer. A shade late on the shot, Kambli ended up skying the ball straight up in the air. Waving everyone else away, Mahesh completed the catch himself. The left hander made 75 and the fifth wicket partnership had added 139.

The Tamil Nadu seam attack was ineffective on a pitch that grew increasingly slower. Aashish Kapoor who got the ball to a do a bit yesterday was used sparingly and he too could not break through.

After Kambli was dismissed, Amol Muzumdar kept Tendulkar good company. Though he did not go after the bowling in the same manner as Tendulkar, Muzumdar played his role to perfection. His silken drives through the off side were a perfect foil to Tendulkar's power and timing.

Tendulkar crossed landmark after landmark in his stay at the wicket. Smashing Gokulkrishna for two consecutive sixes over fine leg, Tendulkar stamped his domination over the Tamil Nadu bowlers. When he brought up his first double hundred in Ranji Trophy cricket, the Mumbai crowd was on their feet. Tendulkar has so far played 313 balls, and has hit 19 fours and four sixes.

However, the loss of quick wickets at the other end dampened the spirits of the crowd. Ajit Agarkar was given a life when he was dropped by Mahesh at cover point off the bowling off Kumaran. However, that was not the costly miss of the day. Madanagopal at second slip dropped a catch that certainly should have been held off the bowling of Mahesh. Tendulkar then was only 42. Abey Kuruvilla, yet to get off the mark, was at the crease with Mumbai 16 runs short of that all important first innings lead mark. The first half hour of play tomorrow will, in all likelihood, decide who goes through to the final.