Ranji Trophy: Tamil Nadu fights back after Shaw sizzler

Post-lunch strikes from Ashwin and Vijay Shankar confine Mumbai to 314 for seven

October 24, 2017 10:17 pm | Updated 10:18 pm IST - MUMBAI

Belligerent mood:  Prithvi Shaw took the attack to the T N  bowlers at the outset, and brought up third First Class century  in only his fourth game shortly after lunch.

Belligerent mood: Prithvi Shaw took the attack to the T N bowlers at the outset, and brought up third First Class century in only his fourth game shortly after lunch.

Prithvi Shaw passed yet another test of his young career with flying colours on an eventful opening day of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy Group C tie against Tamil Nadu at the MCA Sharad Paward Cricket Academy ground on Tuesday.

The teenaged opener’s third First Class century in only his fourth game (123, 155b, 17x4, 2x6), and his marauding partnerships with Shreyas Iyer (57, 62b, 7x4, 2x6) and Suryakumar Yadav (39, 39b, 8x4), had Mumbai threatening to run away with the game by lunch.

But, Tamil Nadu pulled it back in the latter half of the day to restrict the hosts to 314 for seven, with Vijay Shankar dismissing night-watchman Vijay Gohil in the last over of the day before twisting his ankle on the follow-through.

After Aditya Tare chose to bat on a flat deck, V. Yo Mahesh trapped left-hander Akhil Herwadkar in front in his first over.

However, for the next hour and a half, Tamil Nadu had little to cheer about.

Shaw and Shreyas matched each other stroke for stroke as they forced TN skipper Abhinav Mukund to introduce spin in the seventh over. The barrage of shots continued, with Shaw welcoming R. Ashwin with a cover drive.

Shaw slog-swept left-arm spinner Rahil Shah for six, and Shreyas charged down the wicket to loft one from Ashwin wide of long-on for maximum. Soon after the duo had taken Mumbai past 100 in just the 20th over, Shreyas poked outside the off-stump off Vijay Shankar, and a 98-run partnership ended.

However, Suryakumar took over after that, forcing Abhinav to have four fielders on the boundary in the first session.

Just ahead of lunch, Suryakumar looked to have inside-edged one on to his pads, but was adjudged leg-before by overseas umpire Martin Saggers.

Yet, at 173 for three in 34 overs at the break, Mumbai looked set for a gargantuan total. Upper-cutting the pacers twice along the way, Shaw got to hundred early in the second session, with a lofted straight drive off Shah.

Then came the Tamil Nadu fightback.

Ashwin, having switched ends, first had Siddhesh Lad driving into mid-off’s hands. Then, cannily bowling from wide of the crease, he got Shaw to edge one to slip, where B. Indrajith brought to end a stunning innings with an equally stunning single-handed catch.

While Ashwin and Shah kept things tight after tea, Vijay Shankar’s breakthroughs towards the end saw Tamil Nadu to stumps in an upbeat mood.

The scores:

Mumbai — 1st innings: Prithvi Shaw c Indrajith b Ashwin 123, Akhil Herwadkar lbw b Yo Mahesh 0, Shreyas Iyer c Jagadeesan b Vijay Shankar 57, Suryakumar Yadav lbw b Yo Mahesh 39, Siddhesh Lad c Yo Mahesh b Ashwin 18, Aditya Tare c Jagadeesan b Vijay Shankar 53, Abhishek Nayar (batting) 20, Vijay Gohil c Vignesh b Vijay Shankar 2, Extras (nb-1, w-1) 2; Total (for seven wkts in 89.1 overs) 314.

Fall of wkts: 1-8, 2-106, 3-169, 4-220, 5-245, 6-308, 7-314.

Tamil Nadu bowling: K. Vignesh 11-0-43-0, V. Yo Mahesh 12-1-58-2, Rahil Shah 25-3-82-0, R. Ashwin 29-5-77-2, Vijay Shankar 8.1-2-37-3, Washington Sundar 4-0-17-0 .

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