Mumbai has found yet another batting star for the future.
Mumbai beat Tamil Nadu by six wickets on Thursday to book their place for the 46th time in the Ranji Trophy final. Abhinav Mukund's brave declaration on Wednesday evening, setting Mumbai a target of 251 on a fifth-day wicket, didn't pay dividends as his bowlers failed to create any real chances on a flat surface.
The highlight of the day, however, was the brilliant century by 17-year-old Prithvi Shaw. The right-handed opener made a mature 120 off 175 balls, studded with 13 boundaries and one six. The youngster was deservedly declared the Man of the Match and the happiness on his face was hard to miss. "I would like to thank the coach and my team-mates for guiding me. It's every player's dream to represent their state side and I'm glad that I could score a century on my debut," said a visibly delighted Shaw.
Here he is speaking during the presentation ceremony:
Along with the applause, though, coach Chandrakant Pandit could also be seen mouthing a few stern words to Shaw in the dressing room after he got out playing a slog sweep when Mumbai were just 10 runs away from victory. Shaw even had a major scare when he was batting on 99 as he drove a wide delivery straight into the hands of the gully fielder. His despair soon turned into delight when the third-umpire declared him not-out as the bowler had over-stepped the crease to bowl a no-ball.
Shaw was given solid support by Praful Waghela, Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav, who all got starts but failed to convert them into big ones. Captain Aditya Tare and middle-order batsman Siddesh Lad were at the crease when the winning runs were hit.
The 41-times champion will be confident of lifting the premier domestic league yet another time when they take on Gujarat in the final starting on January 10 in Indore. But Mumbai have no room for complacency as Parthiv Patel's men are the only team to have beaten them this season. It promises to be a cracker of a contest.
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