Ramesh Powar polished off the Saurashtra tail to all but put Mumbai in the final of the Ranji Trophy. Rakesh Dhurv and Kamlesh Makvana had fought through the first session but Powar's post-lunch spell ended Saurashtra's slim chances. Dhurv was the first to go, in the second over of the second session, trapped lbw for 44. Sandeep Jobanputra slammed a couple of eye-catching boundaries off Zaheer Khan but an attempted sweep off Powar landed in the hands of first slip soon after. The final wicket wasn't long in coming: Balkrishna Jadeja was caught behind to virtually signal the end of Saurashtra's campaign.

Lunch Saurashtra 353 for 7 (Makvana 50*, Dhurv 43*) trail Mumbai 637 for 6 dec by 284 runs

	Rakesh Dhurv made a battling 43 to keep Mumbai at bay © Cricinfo Ltd

Dhawal Kulkarni took two Saurashtra wickets in an over to push Mumbai towards a place in the final of the Ranji Trophy. The efforts of Kamlesh Makvana, who made his second first-class half-century, and Rakesh Dhurv kept Saurashtra's slim chances of making the final alive.

Kulkarni's impressive debut season continued when he got rid of the Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah, the last specialist batsman, in the day's third over. Shah chased a wide delivery outside off and ended up slicing a catch to backward point. Three balls later, Kulkarni had Sagar Jogiyani nicking a delivery that straightened after pitching outside off to third slip and Saurashtra were reduced to 256 for 7.

Just when it seemed like Mumbai would run through the tail, Makvana and Dhurv stitched together an unbroken 97-run stand to keep Saurashtra fighting. Makvana was particularly gutsy, taking several blows on the body off a barrage of bouncers from Ajit Agarkar. With two leg slips, and a leg gully, Agarkar peppered Makvana (first-class average of 12.70) with short balls from both over and round the wicket, but the batsman survived, weaving his way out of a few and clipping a few towards square-leg.

At the other end, Dhurv was more comfortable against spin than pace. He started off with a confident off-drive against Zaheer Khan, but was fortunate to survive several streaky shots past the slip cordon. Dhurv carted the shorter deliveries from offspinner Ramesh Powar to the boundary and watchfully defended the better ones.

If Saurashtra manage to hang on till stumps, they will go through to the final based on their higher net run-rate, calculated till the quarter-final.

Curtsey CRICINFO.com