Prithvi Shaw (120) completed a memorable Ranji Trophy debut by getting to his maiden first-class hundred in Rajkot on Thursday, helping Mumbai beat Tamil Nadu by six wickets.
Tamil Nadu skipper Abhinav Mukund’s brave declaration at the tail end of day four proved to be ineffective as Shaw showed maturity beyond his years against the pacers. The 17-year-old got excellent support from Praful Waghela, Shreyas Iyer, and Suryakumar Yadav.
For Tamil Nadu, left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas tried hard and effected the wickets of Shaw and Yadav. Unfortunately, the damage was already done and the Rajkot wicket stayed true to its traditions, offering little mercy for the bowlers.
It was Mumbai’s 106-run first-innings lead that forced Mukund to take an early declaration. From there, a draw was not an option for Tamil Nadu, whose batsmen put up a fine display on Wednesday.
Shaw is already a household name in Mumbai’s rich cricketing stables after scoring a record-breaking 546 in an inter-school match in the Harris Shield. With his latest feat, he moves into elite company.
Mumbai are the defending champions and will face Gujarat in the final at Indore as they try to claim their 42nd trophy. The last time Mumbai won back-to-back trophies was in 2008-’09 and 2009-’10, and this is the 46th time they will be playing in the summit event.
Brief scores:
Tamil Nadu 305 (Baba Indrajith 64, Vijay Shankar 50; Abhishek Nayar 4/66, Shardul Thakur 4/75) and 356/6 declared (Baba Indrajith 138, Abhinav Mukund 122; Balwinder Sandhu 2/67) lost to Mumbai 406 (Aditya Tare 83, Suryakumar Yadav 73; Shankar 4/59) and 251/4 (Prithvi Shaw 120, Shreyas Iyer 40; Aushik Srinivas 2/73) by six wickets.