Tamil Nadu were fighting to stave off defeat after being forced to follow-on by Mumbai in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.
At stumps on day three of the four-day fixture, the visitors were 202 for 5, ahead by only 47 runs after conceding a lead of 155 runs, with first innings centurion Dinesh Karthik back in the pavilion.
At close, skipper Hemang Badani was unbeaten on 40 after a stay of 131 minutes and Tamil Nadu's most experienced player Sridharan Sharath not out on 5.
Karthik, who started the day on 98, played some big shots after reaching his century before he was caught behind off Aavishkar Salvi for 134. His 182-ball knock contained 19 boundaries and a six to help Tamil Nadu reach 275 in their first innings after they were struggling at 91 for 6 at one stage.
He, however, scored only 17 before he fell leg before wicket to Ramesh Powar in the second innings. Subramaniam Badrinath played a fine innings of 64, containing eight boundaries.
Badrinath kept the Mumbai bowlers at bay for more than four hours, before he was dismissed by Mumbai captain Nilesh Kulkarni at the fag end.
He added 63 runs for the fifth wicket with Badani, but his dismissal has opened the door wider for Mumbai to break through tomorrow, the last day of the match.
Scorecard:
Tamil Nadu first innings (overnight score: 208/8)
S Vidyut c Jaffer b R Powar 8
C Hemanth Kumar b Salvi 0
S Sriram c Kulkarni b R Powar 14
S Badrinath c Samant b Nair 21
H Badani c Jaffer b R Powar 28
S Sharath b Nair 5
D Karthik c Samant b Salvi 134
R Naresh c Samant b Salvi 10
A Kapoor c Samant b Hazare 2
G Vignesh c Muzumdar b Salvi 20
T Kumaran not out 0
Extras (b 5, lb 3, w 9, nb 16) 33
Total (all out in 84.1 overs) 275
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-23, 3-28, 4-61, 5-85, 6-91, 7-142, 8-167, 9-267, 10-275.
Bowling: A Salvi 21.1-6-38-4, S Hazare 12-2-40-1, R Powar 29-6-106-3, A Nair 11-0-46-2, N Kulkarni 11-3-37-0.
Tamil Nadu second innings (follow-on)
S Vidyut c Samant b Nair 23
C Hemanth Kumar c Samant b Hazare 1
S Badrinath c Kukreja b Kulkarni 64
S Sriram c Indulkar b R Powar 39
D Karthik lbw b R Powar 17
H Badani not out 40
S Sharath not out 5
Extras (lb 3, w 7, nb 3) 13
Total (for 5 wickets in 71 overs) 202
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-35, 3-95, 4-130, 5-193.
Bowling: A Salvi 10-2-29-0, S Hazare 3-0-16-1, A Nair 11-2-32-1, N Kulkarni 18-3-47-1, R Powar 26-5-66-2, A Muzumdar 3-0-9-0.
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