A devastating six-wicket haul by paceman Abhishek Nayar helped Mumbai restrict Himachal Pradesh to 250 in their first innings of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final match at Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday.
At stumps, Mumbai were 19 for no loss, with Vinayak Samant (14) and skipper Wasim Jaffer (0) at the crease.
Himachal's star performers -- Bhavin Thakkar and Sangram Singh -- began cautiously after Mumbai won the toss and put them in to bat.
They put up a 50-run partnership before disaster struck and Himachal lost three quick wickets to be reduced to 50 for three by the 25th over.
Sangram Singh (13) was the first to go when Nayar had him caught by skipper Jaffer. He was followed by Vijay Indulkar (0) trapped by Nayar.
Mumbai's star bowler of the season Dhawal Kulkarni struck in the 25th over accounting for Thakar (29).
Middle-order batsmen Para Dogra and Mukesh Sharma perished without contributing much to the Himachal score which bore a dismal look at 74 for 5 in the 29th over.
The 101-run partnership between Ajay Mannu and Sarandeep Singh for the sixth wicket resurrected the Himachal innings and led them to a respectable total.
Both Mannu (61) and Sarandeep (75) struck defiant half centuries to lift their teams from the pits.
Mannu hit eight boundaries and one six in his innings, which came off 97 balls before being caught behind by Vinayak Samant off Powar.
Sarandeep's knock was studded with six boundaries.
Batting at number eight, all-rounder Vishal Bhatia (21 not out) held one end but did not get support from the tail and Himachal innings folded for a modest 250 in 80.5 overs.
Powar and Kulkarni, supported Nayar well, claiming two wickets apiece for 30 and 45 runs respectively.
India discard Ajit Agarkar, however, failed to impress yet again as he went wicketless, giving away 32 runs in 11 overs.
