Mumbai: Opener Murali Vijay stroked his way to his second successive century in the Irani Cup as Rest of India dominated the opening day of their five-day fixture against recently crowned Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium here on Wednesday.
With good contributions from one-down batsman Manoj Tiwary (37), Ambati Rayudu (51) and Suresh Raina (36 not out), RoI ended day one at 330-5.
Virender Sehwag pulled out before the match due to an upset stomach.
Vijay, who had notched a double ton for the RoI against last year’s champions Rajasthan in Bangalore at the start of the season, compiled an aggressive 116 and also put on a quickfire 144-run stand with opening partner Shikhar Dhawan (63) to lay a strong foundation.
RoI, without captain and opener Virender Sehwag who pulled out at the eleventh hour due to an upset stomach, dominated the day completely.
The situation could have been even better for RoI had Mumbai’s pace spearhead Dhawal Kulkarni not dismissed Wriddhiman Saha just before close with the second new ball for his first wicket.
At stumps, Raina, was on 36 after a near two-hour stay in which he faced 68 balls and hit four fours. Captain Harbhajan (0) was the other unbeaten batsman at the crease.
Raina, along with Rayudu, also put on 78 runs for the fourth wicket.
For Mumbai, who opted to field after winning the toss, captain Abhishek Nayar was the most successful bowler with figures of two for 49, while the other three wickets were shared equally by Shardul Thakur, part time bowler Rohit Sharma and Kulkarni.
“Obviously it’s a big game for me and the motivation level was high. I just wanted to give my best shot,” Vijay said after play.
“Every knock is important. Myself and Shikhar gave a good start to the team and hopefully we can build on it,” he said.
“Once we got in, myself and Shikhar decided to play our natural game. We decided to play positive cricket,” he added. (PTI)
Brief scores:
RoI: 330-5, 90 overs (M Vijay 116, S Dhawan 63; A Nayar 2-49, Rohit Sharma 1-20)