Prithvi Shaw made a bright return to competitive cricket after having served his doping ban, scoring a half-century to guide Mumbai to an 83-run win over Assam in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Sunday.
Shaw had been suspended for eight months by the BCCI for failing the dope test.
The diminutive opener did not disappoint the small crowd assembled at the Wankhede Stadium. Coming in for the in-form Jay Bista in this Group D match, Shaw played a blazing knock (67, 38b, 6x4, 3x6) and celebrated his 50 with a gesture of ‘bat does the talk’. Shaw and Aditya Tare (79, 49b, 13x4) toyed with the pedestrian Assam attack to help Mumbai post a massive total of 206 for 5. The Mumbai bowlers, led by medium-pacer Shivam Dube (2 for 3) then restricted the visiting side to 123 for 8 to complete the win.
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All eyes were firmly on Shaw. The 20-year-old had been named in Mumbai’s last two games in the league stage and for the subsequent Super League.
Shaw made his intent clear as he hit seven boundaries and two sixes in his 39-ball knock. He made good use of a reprieve he had when on 32 — he had been dropped at long-off. Shaw underlined his class, hitting some lovely shots, including two towering sixes.
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Tare was also in an attacking mood, smashing some well-timed boundaries. The two conjured up a 138-run stand for the first-wicket to lay the foundation of big total. Tare hammered 12 fours and a lone six.
Assam leg-spinner Riyan Parag removed Tare and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (0), who had a rare failure, in successive deliveries of the 14th over. Shaw’s innings, too, ended after he became Parag’s (3 for 30) third victim as Mumbai slumped to 149 for 3. However, a quickfire 32 off 14 balls by its crisis man Siddhesh Lad ensured that the host crossed the 200-run mark.
Clinical
The chase was always going to be difficult for Assam and Mumbai bowlers dished out a clinical show. Assam kept losing wickets and no other batsman apart from Riyan Parag (38, 33b, 2x4, 2x6) showed spine as Mumbai defended the target with ease. Dhawal Kulkarni (2 for 28), Dube (2 for 3), Shams Mulani (2 for 15), Shardul Thakur (1 for 23) and Shreyas Iyer (1 for 28) shared the spoils.
Meanwhile, in the first game at Bandra-Kurla Complex, Puducherry defeated Bengal by four wickets.
- Mumbai 206 for 5 in 20 overs (Aditya Tare 82, Prithvi Shaw 63, Riyan Parag 3 for 30) beat Assam 123 for 8 (Riyan Parag 38) by 83 runs.
- Bengal 132 for 7 in 20 overs (Vivek Singh 43, Suresh Kumar 4 for 17) lost to Puducherry 135 for 6 in 20 overs (Rohit Damodaran 55) by four wickets.
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