An elegant, but devastating, partnership between Wasim Jaffer and Nishit Shetty put former champions Mumbai back in contention in the Ranji Trophy final against Tamil Nadu, at the Wankhede stadium, in Mumbai, on Tuesday.
Their 188-run stand for the second wicket, after the Mumbai bowlers had restricted Tamil Nadu to 271 in their first essay, gave the hosts a fighting chance of winning the crown for the 35th time.
At close on day 3, Mumbai were 228 for 4.
And Jaffer's knock, following the 83 he scored in the first innings, will certainly make the national selectors reconsider him for the opener's slot.
If Jaffer and Shetty batted Mumbai back into contention, it was medium pacer Ajit Agarkar (4 for 57) and skipper Paras Mhambrey (2 for 36) who provided the new lease of life. The pacemen bowled with sustained fire and accuracy to bundle out the visitors 13 minutes before lunch.
Leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule complimented their efforts and finished with 3 for 59.
Tamil Nadu, resuming at their overnight score of 223 for 4, could add just five more runs before Agarkar claimed the first wicket, that of S Sharath, who was caught by Jaffer in the gully.
Hemang Badani, who scored an attractive 56 off 120 balls with eight fours, was back in the pavilion soon after, trapped lbw by Agarkar, with a delivery that came in. Badani shouldered arms and was unlucky to be adjudged out to a delivery that might have missed the stumps.
M R Srinivas left without scoring while L Balaji was bowled by Mhambrey for 8. Gokulakrishnan (15) and Raju (5) also left without adding much to the total. The Tamil Nadu innings lasted 516 minutes.
The Mumbai batsmen showed their aggressive intent immediately in their second knock and, despite the early loss of opener Vinayak Mane, were unfazed.
Jaffer and Shetty literally tore into the Tamil Nadu attack, hammering the bowlers to all parts of the ground. After the fall of Mane's wicket, the pair put on 92 runs in 20.1 overs before tea. The right-handed Jaffer smashed boundaries to both sides of the wicket and grew in confidence as the innings gained momentum.
Left-hand bat Shetty's knock was in contrast, however. He was slow to start off, but joined in the fun soon as it became evident that the hosts were not ready to go down without a fight.
Jaffer raced to his 50 off 71 balls, hitting ten sweetly-timed fours in the process. That statistic gives one the measure of his dominance.
After tea, Shetty launched into a flurry of strokes, racing past Jaffer on the way to a well-deserved century, off only 133 balls. The hundred was studded with 13 boundaries and one six.
Jaffer played his part to perfection and stepped back, providing Shetty with more of the strike. But just when it looked as if the duo would take the match away from Tamil Nadu, the visitors hit back.
Shetty (100) and Jaffer (98 off 173 balls) were sent back to the pavilion, in that order, within 13 deliveries. Then night-watchman Vinayak Samant got out to what proved to be the last ball of the day.
Medium pacer M Shrinivas claimed all the three wickets.
Mumbai still have a healthy 217-run lead, which gives them a winning chance. How their remaining batsmen perform on day 4 will hold the key to the outcome of this engrossing match.
