Mumbai, Jan 10: R Prasanna and Yo Mahesh took Tamil Nadu to 250 for the loss of six wickets withan unbroken partnership worth 111 runs on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Mumbai.

After Mumbai won the toss and opted to bowl at the Wankhede Stadium, DhawalKulkarni sent back AbhinavMukund in the third over of the day. But after losing the first wicket early in their innings,Murali Vijay (47) and veteran batsman S Badrinath (56) chipped away at the Mumbai bowlers to build a 99-run partnership. Scoring at a quicker pace than the opener, Badrinath reached his half-century off 76 balls after surviving a run-out chance on 49.

In an effort to break their growing partnership, WasimJaffer rotated his bowlers and was rewarded with three quick wickets a little before lunch. Mumbai picked the three wickets without conceding a run with Tamil Nadu’s score on 107. In his third spell,Balwinder Singh Sandhu (Jr.) dislodged Badrinath’s bails while Dinesh Karthik was given lbw off his next delivery. In the next over, a DhawalKulkarni delivery took the outside edge of Murali Vijay’s bat and was collected safely by OnkarGurav.

Continuing after lunch, Sandhu took his wicket-tally to four,dismissing K Vasudevadas and Sunny Gupta. The former edged the pacer to the keeper and a little later Hiken Shah took a superb catch to remove Gupta leaving the visitors struggling at 139 for the loss of six wickets. The Mumbai bowlers, however, failed to seize the advantage as Prasanna found an able ally in Yo Mahesh as the duo steered TN to a respectable score.

Prasanna, who had come to the crease at the fall of Murali Vijay’s wicket, diligently grafted runs to remain unbeaten on 81 (12x4) while Yo Mahesh, who had survived an lbw appeal while on 21, was not out on 34 (3x4, 1x6) at stumps today.

Scorecard