Mumbai: Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik hit a strokeful 167 to help Tamil Nadu (TN) post a mammoth 434 on day two against Ranji giants Mumbai in the Group A league encounter here on Friday.
Starting on their overnight score of 249 for six at the Bandra Kurla Complex, TN rode on Karthik's 24th first-class century, which was laced with 19 fours and a six, to overshadow Mumbai left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar's five-wicket haul. The Aditya Tare-led Mumbai were 45 for two at the end of day's play to trail by 389 runs.
TN medium-pacers Mohammed and Jagatheesan Kousik picked up a wicket each to put the hosts on the backfoot early on. For the Baba Indrajith-led side, opener Baba Aparajith (62) and Malolan Rangarajan (61) were the other contributers even as Karthik's innings stood apart.
It was Karthik's seventh wicket 182-run stand with Rangarahan that did the trick for the visitors as the Mumbai bowlers were made to toil hard.
Dabholkar, who had pocketed 4 wickets yesterday, took one more today to record his second first-class fifer as he was ably helped by Dhawal Kulkarni and Shardul Thakur, who bagged two wickets apiece.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 434 all out in 144.4 overs (B Aparajith 62, D Karthik 167, M Rangarajan 61; V Dabholkar 5-122) against Mumbai 45/2 in 29 overs (S Mangela 20*; Mohammed 1-13, J Kousik 1-4)
