Mumbai would not have believed their luck when Hyderabad virtually gifted their last two wickets via run outs, bringing an end to the visitors' frustration after the lower-order had staged a fight back on the first day.
And the defending champions grabbed the opportunity with both hands, tightening their grip on the Ranji Trophy Super League encounter with impressive batting on the second day. Mumbai were 198 for 1 at stumps, just 68 runs away from taking the first innings lead.
The visitors experimented by sending wicket-keeper batsman Vinayak Samant to open with Sahil Kukreja (87 not out), but the former could not last enough.
However, that hardly hurt Mumbai's cause as Ajinkya Rahane (89 not out) struck form at the right time.
Both Rahane and Kukreja took very little risks and were severe on anything pitched on the leg stump.
Coach Pravin Amre was all praise for the duo and especially Rahane. “Tomorrow will be a very crucial day for us. We will like to bat through the day so that we have enough lead to defend if we get to bowl the entire 90 overs on final day,” he added.
Some more good news was in store for the visitors. Soon, it became clear that Rohit Sharma's shoulder injury was not very serious and that he could bat.
{{/usCountry}}Some more good news was in store for the visitors. Soon, it became clear that Rohit Sharma's shoulder injury was not very serious and that he could bat.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, Hyderabad's resistance came to a premature end when their last two batsmen were run out.
Ashwin Yadav had added 30 runs for the ninth wicket with top scorer Syed Quadri when he was slow off the blocks for an attempted double.
And six balls later last man Shoaib Ahmed preferred to watch the ball than try to reach the other end when Quadri had pushed the ball to mid off.
Scorecard: Hyderabad 1st innings: 266; Mumbai 1st innings: 198 for 1 (S Kukreja batting 87, A Rahane batting 89).