ON THE ATTACK: Wasim Jaffer hooks Sourav Sarkar en route to his century. — Photo: Vivek Bendre

MUMBAI: Bengal's disciplined attack failed to make Sachin Tendulkar fall in line. He first milked the bowling and then went on to master it in his inimitable style. Runs trickled, then flowed in torrents as the maestro raced to an impetuous century in 113 balls.

Five runs later (105 off 129 balls) he was gone. The visitor's relief at seeing the Mumbai mainstay's back was soon replaced by resolve and it recovered lost ground to restrict the home team to 281 at five after an engrossing first day's play of the 2007 Ranji Trophy final.

Wasim Jaffer was the other century-maker after Mumbai was put in to bat, a laboured effort (112 off 243 balls) compared to Tendulkar's classic effort, but then mortals have to work harder than maestros.

The former's occupation of the crease, apart from two partnerships (with Tendulkar and captain Amol Muzumdar), will have dissipated a bit of the tension in the home team dressing room.

The top five batsmen have been dismissed while strokeplayers Rohit Sharma and Abhishek Nair are still getting their eye in.

Kulkarni rested

Bengal opted to give pace spearhead Ranadeb Bose first strike on a supposedly hard track expected to offer bounce and movement.

Mumbai went into the match with four seamers, resting experienced leg-spinner Nilesh Kulkarni and opting for Wilkin Mota to assist the pace attack of Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar and Nair.

The Wankhede wicket turned out to be tamer than expected, though Bose delivered immediately, forcing opener Sahil Kukreja to edge into slip fielder Abhishek Jhunjhunwala's hands in the third over.

Mota, sent to bat at No. 3 ahead of accomplished batsmen, missed a delivery from Bose which seamed in.

The roars greeting Tendulkar's brisk walk to the wicket eclipsed the apprehension in the Mumbai camp (14 for two) after just seven overs in the morning. Bose's tail was up after the twin strikes while Sourav Sarkar and Ashok Dinda were bowling to the field and expectancy was in the air.

Entertaining phase

Tendulkar loosened up with crisp drives off Sarkar to the fence, first through cover and then straight past the bowler. Every move was watched breathlessly as one of the biggest entertainers of the game got down to business.

Jaffer's nerve was under test after being dropped by Manoj Tiwary at slip when Mumbai was 50 for two and apparently heading for more trouble.

Tendulkar exploded into action with a crackling square drive off Sarkar, a jaw-dropping straight-drive and a graceful cover drive.

Bengal appeared to have fought back when the fielders went up in appeal for a Tiwary catch off Dinda, the home team now 92 for two.

Tendulkar stood his ground, unfazed and sure that the catch was taken first bounce. The umpire signalled for third umpire A.Y. Gokhale's assistance and television replays proved that the batsman was right.

A delight to watch

The Wankhede crowd broke into applause at the verdict and roared with delight as the Mumbai marauder decided to treat his fans to a batting exhibition.

The Bengal bowlers appeared to be going through the motions, the fielders looked on helplessly as strokes of lazy elegance sent the ball searing across the turf and on to the ropes.

A flick to the midwicket fence off Dinda, getting inside the line of delivery, was one of the many specials the fans had a chance to witness.

Tendulkar leaned into his drives, stepped out for straight-drives and jumped from 50 (78b, 10x4) to the nineties, ran careful singles towards an entertaining century (with 18 fours) before sweeping off-spinner Sourashish Lahiri into Laxmi Ratan Shukla's hands at deep midwicket.

The momentum dipped after this third wicket stand (187 runs, 284 balls) as Jaffer and captain Muzumdar were cramped by some disciplined bowling, the fielders keeping the pressure on the batsmen.

The Mumbai innings hit speed-breakers from 201 for three in 52.3 overs to 268 for four in 79 overs as Lahiri broke Jaffer's resistance. Ganguly's appeal for leg-before against Muzumdar, playing forward, was upheld at the same score.

Zaheer was handed the Mumbai cap by ex-India captain Dilip Vengsarkar in the morning. The India pace ace is making his Ranji debut for Mumbai.

The scores:

Mumbai — 1st innings: S. Kukreja c Jhunjhunwala b Bose 0, W. Jaffer c A. Das b Lahiri 112, W. Mota lbw b Bose 8, S. Tendulkar c Shukla b Lahiri 105, A. Muzumdar lbw b Ganguly 31, R. Sharma (batting) 9, A. Nair (batting) 4; Extras (lb-1, nb-10, w-1): 12; Total (for five wkts. in 83 overs): 281.

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-14, 3-201, 4-268, 5-268.

Bengal bowling: Bose 22-7-56-2, Sarkar 14-2-59-0, Ganguly 15-4-29-1, Dinda 16-5-67-0, Lahiri 16-0-69-2.

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