Openers Wasim Jaffer and Vinayak Mane hit strokeful centuries to help Mumbai take control of the Ranji Trophy elite final match against Tamil Nadu in Chennai on Saturday.

At stumps on day two the visitors were 236 for no loss, just 58 runs adrift of Tamil Nadu's first innings score of 294.

After Mumbai bowled out the hosts for the addition of just 25 runs to the overnight score of 269 for 9, Jaffer (121, 249b, 19x4) and Mane (105, 238b, 14x4)) exhibited a mixture of caution and aggression to completely dominate the bowling attack on a flat batting track.

The inform Jaffer and Mane hit their third and second centuries of the season respectively to take Mumbai to a commanding position.

For Mane, who survived a chance with his score on 15, this was his second straight hundred after the 154 against Hyderabad in the semifinal.

Tamil Nadu bowling was left clueless and captain S Suresh deployed as many as eight bowlers, including part-timers C Badrinath and S Sriram, in a bid to dislodge the openers.

Right-handed Jaffer was the first to reach his 11th Ranji century with a sweetly executed square cut to the boundary off Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan as Mumbai raced to their 200 runs.

Mane, who was on 77 then, notched up the remaining runs in quick time to reach the three figure mark.

The 22-year old Mane and Jaffer paced their innings well from the start, despatching the bad balls to the boundary. At lunch, Mumbai were 72 for no loss.

Mane was lucky to escape when he offered a catch, going for a cut shot off medium pacer M R Srinivas with his score on 15, but R Ramkumar at gully failed to latch on to it. He gave a half-chance, edging C Ganapathy with wicket keeper Dinesh Karthick just managing to get his fingers to the ball.

Soon, Suresh brought on the main spinners Ramkumar and Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan, but they to failed to achieve the elusive breakthrough.

The post-lunch session was even more productive with both the openers in their best, adding 95 runs in 31 overs. Jaffer was more pronounced in his attack as he scored three fours off Suresh and raced to 89.

The batsmen were so focussed and determined that there was no respite for the hosts even after the tea break. Though Jaffer slowed down a bit after scoring his century, Mane continued to strike the ball hard, reaching his hundred in 213 balls with the help of 14 fours.

After keeping Sivaramakrishnan (21-3-66-0) and Ramkumar (18-6-41-0) unchanged since tea for 15 overs, the Tamil Nadu skipper brought on Badrinath and Badani in a desparate bid to take a wicket.

But, Jaffer and Mane were in no mood to oblige them and played out the overs cautiously, picking up occasional fours, determined to prolong their stay.