Ranji Trophy 2016/17: Prithvi Shaw’s Ton Help Mumbai Book Date Against Gujarat In Final
Jan 5, 2017 at 4:46 PM
Tamil Nadu skipper Abhinav Mukund, who took a bold decision yesterday to declare the innings with a lead of 250, would rue his decision now as Mumbai chased down the target successfully, to reach the final of Ranji trophy for the 46th time.
The young batsman Prithvi Shaw did most of the talking on the final day of the game as the young batsman scored a century on his debut first-class game and played an innings of 120 off just 175 deliveries and led the team to an emphatic win over Tamil Nadu.
By scoring a century in this game, Shaw became the second youngest batsman for Mumbai to score a century on debut. He showed glimpses of Sachin Tendulkar in his batting as the flamboyance with which he was batting was unmatchable and he seemed to be the best man for Mumbai.
Mumbai had a great start to the day as the opening pair added 85 more runs for the first wicket before Praful Waghela mistimed a sweep shot to give Tamil Nadu the first breakthrough. Shreyas Iyer (40) guided the team ahead with Shaw and shared a partnership worth 91 runs with before getting bowled by all-rounder Vijay Shankar.
SuryaKumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw then steered the team and completed formalities but Mumbai lost two more wickets before winning the game and qualifying for the final of Ranji Trophy 2016/17.
Abhinav Mukund would be a sad captain as some may say that he made a wrong decision to declare the innings but the pitch was pretty much supportive for the batsmen even on the fifth day of the game.
Moreover, Mukund’s move can’t be questioned as Mumbai already had an upper hand in the game by virtue of gaining the first innings lead and if Mukund would have pushed the game for a draw, in that case too, Mumbai would have qualified for the final.
Mumbai will face Gujarat in the final of the Ranji Trophy 2016/17 in pursuit to defend their Ranji Trophy title.
Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu 305 & 356/6d vs Mumbai 411 & 251/4 (Target: 251)
Mumbai defeat Tamil Nadu by six wickets and qualify for the final of Ranji Trophy