Tendulkar and Jaffer save the day

Mumbai 281 for 5 (Jaffer 112, Tendulkar 105) v Bengal
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Sachin Tendulkar's superb hundred and Wasim Jaffer's patient ton lifted Mumbai on the opening day © Cricinfo Ltd

A session of scintillating play lit up by a Sachin Tendulkar century was sandwiched between two rather more lacklustre ones as the first day of the big Ranji final ended with Mumbai on 281 for 5.

As has so often been the case this season, apart from when the wickets have been rank bad ones, the bowlers struggled to make inroads, and still the batsmen failed to dominate, and the score meandered on. Three quick wickets at the end of the day, when they slumped from 201 for 2 to 268 for 5, threatened to undo the good work done by the centurions as Bengal somewhat clawed their way back into the contest.

When play began, with Deep Dasgupta winning the toss and choosing to put Mumbai in, there was an early slice of hope for Bengal as Ranadeb Bose scalped two early wickets. Sahil Kukreja nibbled at a ball from Bose and only managed an edge to Abhishek Jhunjhunwala at second slip. Kukreja was gone for a duck and Mumbai were in early trouble at 3 for 1. Then, to the surprise of almost everyone, Mumbai sent Wilkin Mota, the allrounder, in to bat at No. 3, but he could only manage 8 before playing forward to a ball from Bose that came in a touch, and was trapped well in front of the stumps. At 14 for 2 Mumbai were once again wobbling, but with Tendulkar walking out to join Jaffer, all nerves were calmed.

The next chance for Bengal came when Ashok Dinda, the diminutive mediumpacer,induced a wild slash from Jaffer. The thick edge flew towards Manoj Tiwary in the slips cordon, who lunged at the ball too early and fluffed the chance. There was a brief scare seven minutes before the lunch break when, on 43, Tendulkar flashed Dinda hard and edged towards Tiwary at gully. Tiwary dived forward and claimed the catch, and Bengal celebrated spontaneously, but Tendulkar stood his ground and the decision was referred to Atul Gokhale, the third umpire. After looking at several replays he ruled in the batsman's favour.

The real fireworks began when the players walked back onto the field after lunch, with the score on 96 for 2; Tendulkar took fresh guard, as he had done so many times in the first session. The bowlers might have got a bit of a breather in the 40-minute break, and a chance to recharge their batteries, but they had the wind knocked out of them before they could even settle in. Both Jaffer and Tendulkar were on the lookout for runs and the opportunities were created even when they did not present themselves readily.

After a flurry of boundaries Bengal went on the defensive, with Ashok Dinda bowling well outside the off stump to a packed 7-2 off-side field. This only seemed to stir Tendulkar's competitive juices even more, and he repeatedly walked across his stumps and slapped the ball through the leg side. In just nine overs after lunch Mumbai had raced from 96 to 150, and Tendulkar had left Jaffer well behind.

The introduction of spin, in the form of Saurashish Lahiri, did nothing to stem the flow of runs. Tendulkar welcomed Lahiri to the crease with a fine sweep for four, and then picked him off for more boundaries, off a more conventional sweep and flicks through midwicket. Sourav Ganguly came on to bowl, and he had to use all his cleverness to keep the batsmen in check, and he succeeded much more than his less experienced colleagues.

Jaffer had his second spot of luck when Ganguly got one to pitch just short of a length, invited the drive and found the edge, only to hear umpire K Hariharan call out "No-ball". Ganguly was visibly irritated with himself at the transgression and kicked the air in disgust, but the damage had been done. Although Jaffer was more careful after the let off, the runs continued to come as Tendulkar picked off the ones and twos, cutting out the big shots as he approached three figures.

When it finally came, through a clip off the pads through the on side off Ganguly for a single, Tendulkar's hundred was lustily cheered by the crowd that had gathered, and Bengal realised they had their work cut out for them. Jaffer, who had moved along, almost unnoticed, to 79 and Tendulkar had done all the hard work. Then, against the grain of play, Tendulkar made an error of judgment, sweeping Lahiri square, uppishly, only for Laxmi Ratan Shukla to take a good low catch running in from the midwicket fence. Tendulkar's 105 included 19 boundaries, and constituted more than half of Mumbai's 201 at that stage.

After Tendulkar's dismissal, the scoring rate ground to a halt. Jaffer, who was well set by this stage and looking to make the most of two reprieves, was neither timing the ball well nor finding the gaps, and the bowlers were able to regain some measure of control over proceedings. Amol Muzumdar, the mainstay of a shaky Mumbai batting line-up all season, got together with Jaffer, and the duo fairly went to sleep at the crease.

Jaffer eventually got to his hundred, with a pull down to fine leg, but was dismissed soon after, popping a catch to Arindam Das at short-leg and was gone for 112. Muzumdar then copped a slightly surprising decision, being given out lbw to Ganguly though he was stretched fully out, and well forward. Rohit Sharma, who survived some tense moments against Lahiri at the end of the day, had a good chance to make an impact on the second day.