Mumbai 375 for 4 (Suryakumar 135, Herwadkar 97, Lad 69*) v Madhya Pradesh
Scorecard

The Mumbai batting line-up sizzled for the second time in succession, making a mockery of a hapless Madhya Pradesh bowling attack to lay a firm grip on the first day of the match. Thanks to Suryakumar Yadav's blistering 135 and rookie Akhil Herwadkar's impressive 97, Mumbai finished the day at 375 for 4.

A Wankhede wicket that was slightly greener than usual made both the teams enter the game with a four-pronged pace attack. Once the coin landed in Devendra Bundela's favour, it was clear that the day would see a tussle between an inexperienced bowling attack and a largely unproven batting unit.

The MP pacers never found the right length, either bowling too short or too full, thus bringing in drives and cuts in plenty. And the Mumbai batsmen made the most of scoring opportunities. The day saw 57 fours and two sixes, most of which were scored off loose balls.

Once Herwadkar and Aditya Tare saw off the new ball, MP were always going to chase the pack. However, soon after the first drinks break, Tare and Shreyas Iyer threw their wickets away. Two balls after Herwardkar was given a reprieve by Naman Ojha behind the wicket, Tare offered catching practice to Harpreet Singh at second slip.

And the catching practice continued in Datey's next over. Iyer, fresh from a sterling 153 in Kolkata last week, started off by flicking Puneet Datey between midwicket and mid-on off the first ball he faced. Soon after, he lobbed a fuller one straight to Sanjay Mishra at short cover.

Mumbai were in a slight spot of bother having suffered multiple collapses at the stat of the season. But once his captain joined him in the middle, Herwadkar started playing more freely. The left-handed batsman was playing only his third first-class match but he looked at home right from the word go. He cut and drove with élan early on to let Tare get his eye in. By the time Suryakumar joined him, he had already scored his maiden first-class fifty.

Once Suryakumar started manufacturing shots, Herwadkar wasn't to be left behind. He first pulled Avesh Khan over deep square leg and then danced down the wicket off left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma to hit him for back-to-back fours and race to 97. He was visibly nervous and tried to repeat the shot for crossing the milestone. Ankit had seen him charging down the wicket, and bowled it wide for Ojha to complete an easy stumping.

Herwadkar's charge was set up by Suryakumar. The MP bowlers tried to bowl wide of off stump in order to induce him into a false stroke but the Mumbai captain was happy to nudge the ball through the gully region for boundaries. The maverick batsman changed the course of the match by targeting Sanjay Mishra in the 43rd over. The over produced 19 runs, 16 of which came through Suryakumar's boundaries. The third of the four fours - a wristy off drive that was similar to a tennis top spin - was the shot of the day.

Even after losing Herwadkar, Suryakumar continued the charge. With Siddhesh Lad looking solid at the other end, Suryakumar continued to score boundaries at will, that too with unorthodox shots. He walked down the wicket and pushed Yogesh Rawat behind the bowler for another memorable shot. And in the next over, flicked Ankit against the line - not the turn, since there wasn't any - through midwicket to inch closer to his second century of the tournament.

Though he slowed down a bit in the nineties, he caressed a short one from offspinner Jalaj Saxena through the offside for his 17th four of the day and pumped his fist to the dressing room. He later pulled Avesh into the stands behind square leg and then drove him through covers in the next over.

With half an hour remaining in the day's play, Suryakumar threw his wicket away. He tried to walk down to Harpreet's gentle medium-pacers and yorked himself to be bowled.

Lad and Sarfaraz Khan then continued to score freely as MP decided against taking the new ball in the evening. If the bowlers don't make use of the red cherry early in the morning, they could well be batted out on the second day.