Still a target of 252 on the bouncy Mumbai track against the Mumbai attack led by India's pace spearhead Zaheer Khan looked a formidable task especially after the left-arm bowler had dismissed Khurana cheaply yesterday and the league's top scorer Harshad Khadiwale with a snorter early today.
Resuming at 28 for one and needing 224 more to upstage the holders, Maharashtra were rocked on the back foot early this morning by Zaheer when he forced Khadiwale to fend at a short one from round the wicket and the ballooning catch was easily held by Pawar in the slip cordon.
But the same fielder dropped a simple chance, and an important one at that, a while later off Nayar. And Zol prospered in Jadhav's company on a wicket that eased out as the day progressed.
Mumbai captain Zaheer Khan tried to shuffle his medium pacers around, and bowled four short spells himself to effect the breakthrough but failed.
Left-arm spinners Vishal Dabhoklkar and Iqbal Abdulla, who was the bowling hero in the holders' come from behind victory over Gujarat in their do or die last league match earlier with a 11-wicket haul at Valsad, were also ineffective on the seam-friendly track.
In fact, so ineffective was Dabholkar, the team's highest wicket-taker in the league, that Jadhav slammed him for three sixes in one over - two off successive balls over the straight field - to raise the 150 of the stand.
Zol had earlier cracked Zaheer for successive fours on the on-side before lunch to raise the 100 of the innings.
After lunch, taken when Mumbai were 111 for 2, Jadhav banished Nayar off the attack by hitting him for two fours in the first over. This set the tone for both batsmen to take the Mumbai attack by the scruff and hasten their side's victory surge.
Jadhav completed his well-deserved ton off only 124 balls laced with 3 sixes and 11 fours before he and his younger partner sealed a memorable victory for Maharashtra.
