Mumbai 224 and 141 for 2 (Rahane 58*, Musheer 51*) lead Vidarbha 105 (Rathod 27, Kotian 3-7, Kulkarni 3-15, Mulani 3-32) by 260 runs

Vidarbha's hopes of winning the Ranji Trophy for the third time seem to be hanging by a thread. They needed one big batting performance on the second day to inch closer to Mumbai's 224. Even that would've perhaps just kept them in the game, but by being bowled out for 105, they may have conceded way too much ground to cover.

This is when Rahane and Musheer got together in the middle session. For a better part of their first hour at the crease, batting was a struggle. Rahane was beaten on both his edges, he played and missed on a number of occasions and seemed extremely fidgety while defending, especially against Umesh Yadav's late reverse.

Musheer tried to negate the movement by batting well outside the crease and then taking a step further down the pitch as part of his trigger to try and meet the ball early. It didn't necessarily make for pretty viewing with both of them struggling to get going, even as scoring was reduced to a crawl. At tea, Mumbai were 52 for 2 after 25 overs.

After the break, Rahane seemed to turn a corner. He played a gorgeous on-drive and then executed a superb pull in front of square to get into his elements. As his innings progressed, time spent at the crease helped him grow in confidence and runs began to flow. He brought out a trademark flick against the turn through midwicket off Aditya Sarvate and then superbly square drove Umesh for a four to bring up only his second half-century of the season.

On 38, Rahane was given out lbw to Dubey, but was saved by the DRS when replays confirmed he had got a thin inside edge onto the pad. That he built on this reprieve and batted sedately for the remainder of the day had the entire Mumbai contingent delighted as they closed out a day of dominance.

Rahane has been steadfast in his belief that it needs just one knock to turn the tide. After an entire season of struggle, it looks like there's light at the end of the tunnel. He'd want, all of Mumbai would want, for him to go on and get to that century and beyond to bat Vidarbha completely out of the match with three full days remaining.