04 January,2009 07:04 PM IST | | Agencies
Wasim Jaffer led from the front with an unbeaten 162 as Mumbai, with Sachin Tendulkar yet to bat, piled up 268 for one on the opening day of their Ranji trophy semifinal match against Saurashtra here today.
Six Saurashtra bowlers toiled for 90 overs and the lone success of the day came when Rakesh Dhurv trapped Mumbai opener Vinayak Samant (49).
At stumps, Jaffer had Ajinkya Rahane (52) for company after the duo had completed their individual 1000 runs this season.
Jaffer's fluent unbeaten 162 came off 275 balls with 19 fours in it. Rahane overcame a shaky start to hit two fours and a six en route to his unbeaten 154-ball 52.
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With Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Abhishek Nayar and Amol Muzumdar to come next, a leather-hunt awaits the Saurashtra bowlers tomorrow.
Jaffer put on 91 runs with Samant before adding 177 runs in 55 overs for the unbroken second wicket stand. On a batting paradise, Jaffer didn't hesitate to bat first and the Mumbai skipper, along with Samant and Rahane, milked the Saurashtra attack dry.
With new ball colleagues Sandip Jobanputra and Balakrishna Jadeja maintaining a consistent line and length, runs were not easy to come by initially. But, once Jaffer and Samant got a hang of it, things began to change.
Jaffer soon opened up and the wristy flicks and elegant cover drives flowed from his bat.
Samant also cruised along and looked good for his fifty when he tried to sweep Rakesh Dhurv and missed the line to be adjudged leg before.
Rahane lived dangerously and looked quite jittery before he grew in confidence and hit Kamlesh Makwana for a mighty six. Both Jaffer and Rahane went after the Saurashtra bowlers, adding 82 runs of 23 overs in the last session of the day.
Jaffer, who reached his 50 mark of 129 balls, took just 66 balls for his next 50 to reach the hundred mark and then brought up his 150 cutting a Balkrishna Jadeja delivery past gully.
This was Jaffer's fourth century of the season.
Among the hapless Saurashtra bowlers, Ravindra Jadeja did try his best but his brand of left-arm spin could not pose much threat to the set Mumbai batsmen.
