Mukund,Vijay put ROI in command

On the first two days of the Irani Trophy,it was only in the last session that the game really came to life....

On the first two days of the Irani Trophy,it was only in the last session that the game really came to life. The combination of Sreesanth and Munaf Patelwith the second new ball as their weapon-of-choice though ensured that the buzz was on right from the start on Day 3 with a fiery display of fast bowling at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) stadium.

But the pace the duo set in motion soon mellowed down into a canter,as Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund wore down a listless Mumbai bowling attack,with Rest of India (ROI) finishing at 171 for no loss,201 runs ahead.

Play may have commenced one-and-a-half hour late due to rain but Mumbais overnight batsmen,Vinayak Samant and Ramesh Powarwho had defied the ROI bowlers on Fridayhad to face the heat right away.

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Samant was the first to go,bowled by a Sreesanth in-swinger while Munaf shatteredPowars stumps in the very next over.

Dhawal Kulkarni gifted Munaf (5-79) his fifth wicket of the innings as Mumbai folded up for 230 in their first innings. Sreesanth,meanwhile,finished with figures of 3 for 46 from 20 incisive overs.

Vijay and Mukund,who opened in place of ROI skipper Virender Sehwag out of action due to high fever set about cautiously against Kulkarni and Ajit Agarkar. Mukund was handed a life when Sahil Kukreja put down a tough chance at first slip off the bowling of Kulkarni.

None of the Mumbai bowlers managed to make an impact from there on. Vijay played a few exquisite shots of his own,hitting 10 boundaries in his unbeaten 77 while Mukunds 86 included six hits to the fence.

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Brief scores: ROI 260 and 171/0 (M Vijay batting 77,A Mukund batting 86) vs Mumbai 230 (W Jaffer 68,A Rahane 44; M Patel 5/70,S Sreesanth 3/46)