Openers Wasim Jaffer and Vinayak Mane hit strokeful centuries to help Mumbai take control of the Ranji Trophy elite final match against Tamil Nadu here today. At stumps on day two the visitors were 236 for no loss, just 58 runs adrift of Tamil Nadu’s first innings score of 294.After Mumbai bowled out the hosts for the addition of just 25 runs to the overnight score of 269 for 9, Jaffer (121, 249b, 19x4) and Mane (105, 238b, 14x4) exhibited a mixture of caution and aggression to completely dominate the bowling attack on a flat batting track. The in-form Jaffer and Mane hit their third and second centuries of the season respectively to take Mumbai to a commanding position. For Mane, who survived a chance when on 15, this was his second straight hundred after the 154 against Hyderabad in the semifinal.Tamil Nadu’s bowling was left clueless and captain S Suresh deployed as many as eight bowlers, including part-timers C Badrinath and S Sriram, in a bid to dislodge the openers. Right-handed Jaffer was the first to reach his century — his 11th in Ranji cricket — with a sweetly executed square cut to the boundary off Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan as Mumbai raced to their 200 runs.Mane, who was on 77 then, notched up the remaining runs in quick time to reach the three-figure mark. The 22-year-old Mane and Jaffer paced their innings well from the start, despatching the bad balls to the boundary. At lunch, Mumbai were 72 for no loss. Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 1st innings 294 (S Suresh 38, S Sriram 51, Dinesh Kartik 109 no, Nilesh Kulkarni 6/83, Sairaj Bahutule 3/74) vs Mumbai 1st innings 236 for no loss (W Jaffer 121 batting, V Mane 105 batting).
