Mumbai: Mumbai were ahead by 257 runs in the first innings after Musheer Khan struck an unbeaten 203, with Baroda reaching 127/2 in reply by the close of play on day two of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal here on Saturday.
Bhargav Bhatt toiled to return a seven-wicket haul but Musheer worked his way to a fine unbeaten double hundred, powering Mumbai to 383 in the first innings at the BKC Ground.
The visitors were then jolted early in their first innings with opening batter and India U-19 World Cup player Priyanshu Moliya (1) cleaned up by Shardul Thakur, followed by Shams Mulani striking soon to dismiss Jyotsnil Singh for 32.
Baroda were reduced to 65/2 in the 23rd over when the pair of Shashwat Rawat and skipper Vishnu Solanki got together to take their side to the end of play without any further damage.
Rawat was batting on 69 from 88 balls with the help of nine boundaries, whereas Solanki reached 23 not out from 38 balls with a couple of hits to the fence while putting on unbeaten 62 runs for the third wicket.
However, the limelight of the day was once again hogged by Musheer, who converted his maiden first-class hundred into a big score while laying down the foundation for a strong first innings total for Mumbai.
Musheer reached 203 not out from 357 balls with the help of 18 boundaries as his contribution was vital for the home team to get closer to the 400-run mark from 99/4 at one stage on the first day.
The 18-year-old right-handed batter formed a crucial eighth-wicket stand for 181 runs with wicketkeeper-batter Hardik Tamore (57), who himself struck a fine half-century under pressure.
Tamore faced as many as 248 balls and hit only three boundaries to keep the Baroda attack at bay and worked with Musheer to take Mumbai from 142/5 to 323 when the pair was separated.
The hosts were were bowled out for 383 from 140.4 overs with Bhatt adding three more wickets to his first day haul, finishing with 7/112 from as many as 42.4 overs.
Ninad Rathva also shared a heavy bowling workload, returning 38-4-86-3 to account for the remaining wickets.
Brief scores: Mumbai 383 in 140.4 overs (Prithvi Shaw 33, Musheer Khan 203*, Hardik Tamore 57; Bhargav Bhatt 7/112, Ninad Rathva 3/86) lead Baroda 127/2 in 35 overs (Jyotsnil Singh 32, Shashwat Rawat 69*; Shardul Thakur 1/25) by 257 runs.
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