Maharashtra opener Swapnil Gugale hit a century as the hosts powered their way to 298 for 3 against Mumbai on the opening day of their elite Group A game.
Put in to bat, Gugale (101) and Chirag Khurana (71) laid a solid foundation with a 146-run stand.
The two batsmen, with their effective stroke play, made life difficult for Mumbai bowlers, who missed the experience of injured key pacers Dhawal Kulkarni and Tushar Deshpande.
The 27-year-old Gugale hit 15 fours in his 191-ball knock, while Khurana notched 12 in his 106-ball stay at the wicket.
After Khurana fell, one down Jay Pande (68 not out) joined Gugale as the two shared a 52-run stand.
But soon after completing his fourth first class century, Pune-born Gugale was cleaned up by right-arm medium pacer Shubham Ranjane (2-30).
Skipper Rahul Tripathi (25 not out) was holding the fort with Pande at stumps.
In other games, Baroda bowled out Chhattisgarh for a paltry 129 and then overhauled the total to be 36 ahead by close.
At Rajkot, Jaydev Shah, who is playing his last match, led from the front, scoring a valiant 97 as the hosts managed to post 288 for 9 against Karnataka.
At Valsad, Piyush Chawla slammed an unbeaten century to take hosts Gujarat to 340 for 8 against Railways.
