As he brought up his first century of the season with a single through mid-wicket off an Aryaman Singh Dhaliwal delivery, Musheer Khan took off his helmet and raised his bat towards the dressing room.

He struggled to hold back his tears. But as Siddhesh Lad, the other centurion of the day, hugged him, Musheer smiled and then regrouped. And, as they batted for 160 minutes, Musheer and Lad not only reached their personal milestones but also bailed Mumbai out in a crucial Ranji Trophy Group-D fixture against Himachal Pradesh on Saturday.

After opting to bat at the MCA-BKC ground, another top-order collapse saw Mumbai reeling at 73 for four, but Musheer (112, 162b, 14×4) and Lad (100 batting, 207b, 14×4, 1×6) did not press the panic button and forged a 157-run partnership for the fifth wicket to help Mumbai end the day at 289 for five.

Lad and Musheer played every ball on its merit. While Lad cut and pulled at will, Musheer took up from where he left off in the previous game against Rajasthan.

In Jaipur, Mumbai lost the plot in the second session, and taking lessons from that, Musheer and Lad knew that they had to tread carefully. Having already scored 60 runs before lunch, Musheer accelerated and eventually brought up his fourth First Class ton. However, he couldn’t extend his stay at the crease and was cleaned up by Mayank Dagar. But Lad and Akash Anand ensured there were no further hiccups.

Earlier, pacers Arpit Guleria and Vipin Sharma unsettled the Mumbai top-order as Ayush Mhatre failed to capitalise on the opportunity. It was another disappointing outing for Ajinkya Rahane and Sarfaraz Khan, who looked jittery before being trapped leg-before by Vaibhav Arora. Promoted to No. 4, Himanshu Singh lasted a solitary delivery, before Musheer and Lad took charge.

The scores: Mumbai — 1st innings: Ayush Mhatre b Vipin 9, Musheer Khan b Dagar 112, Ajinkya Rahane c Kalsi b Guleria 2, Himanshu Singh b Guleria 0, Sarfaraz Khan lbw b Arora 16, Siddhesh Lad (batting) 100, Akash Anand (batting) 26; Extras (lb-9, b-13, w-2): 24; Total (for five wkts. in 88 overs): 289.

Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-26, 3-35, 4-73, 5-230.

Himachal Pradesh bowling: Vaibhav 11-4-34-1, Vipin 10-2-33-1, Guleria 14-1-56-2, Dagar 33-7-75-1, Dhaliwal 19-4-67-0, Gangta 1-0-2-0.