Mumbai 342 for 5 (Lad 94*, Patil 85*) v Karnataka
Scorecard

An unbeaten, and free-flowing, 175-run sixth-wicket stand between Siddhesh Lad and Nikhil Patil helped Mumbai end the opening day of their crucial Ranji Trophy Group A game against defending champions Karnataka on a strong note and kept Mumbai's qualification chances afloat.

The race for knockouts has been the focal point in the last round of the league stage and Mumbai - needing no less than six points to ensure a quarter-final berth - adopted an aggressive attitude. Not only did they choose to bat, they pushed the scoring rate all through the day.

Karnataka, assured of the top spot in Group A before the start of the match, appeared to have been taking it easy. They visitors rested KL Rahul, with the Test opener having scored a mammoth triple century last week. They also replaced Karun Nair with Udit Patel, partly due to a pitch that is likely to aid spinners, and partly to rest one of their key batsmen ahead of the knockouts.

Both teams' approach reflected in the boundary count. Despite losing wickets at regular intervals in the opening half of the day, Mumbai batsmen continued to put bad balls to boundary. A majority of the 56 fours and two sixes scored on the day were off loose balls - and there were too many of them offered by the Karnataka bowlers.

Mumbai got off the blocks second ball with Shrideep Mangela's stylish flick off his pads off Vinay Kumar. But Vinay found the edge of the left-hander's bat in the fifth ball of the over for Robin Uthappa to latch on to a low catch. While the inexperienced Mumbai middle order floundered yet again, Karnataka fielders also failed to hold on to catches, letting Mumbai run away in the second half of the day.

Had Manish Pandey at first slip and R Samarth at gully not dropped Lad on 13 and 55, Mumbai could well have been struggling by the end of the day's play. But Vinay, who picked a wicket in each of his first two spells, and Abhimanyu Mithun, whose ploy of bowling around the wicket soon after Lad reached his fifty, were left fuming to see fielders not backing them.

Lad could not complain, playing plenty of delightful drives in between. Incidentally, neither Lad nor Patil were part of Mumbai's plans at the start of the season. While Lad missed the first three games due to dengue fever, Patil was plying his trade on the maidans, having been sidelined since his debut game two years ago.

The duo ramped up pace in the last session, making a mockery of a renowned bowling attack. Patil is considered to be an exceptional player of spin but he also showed his prowess against pace, hitting Vinay and Mithun for a boundary and a six, respectively, over mid-on.

Lad, on the other hand, focussed on his timing, playing his cuts, flicks and drives at will. By the end of the day, Lad had just managed to cross his highest in first-class cricket - 93 against the same opposition last year. Mumbai would be hoping for Lad to not only complete his maiden century but also to continue his stand with Patil to put Karnataka batsmen under pressure.