Prithvi Shaw’s 165 powers Mumbai into Vijay Hazare Trophy final
The second semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy between Mumbai and Karnataka came down to the battle between the two best batsmen of the tournament - Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal.
The Mumbai skipper continued his sensational run in this season's Vijay Hazare Trophy. Leading from the front, Prithvi Shaw smashed 165 off 122 balls to lift his team to 322 after Mumbai batted first.
Padikkal was impressive in response. He breezed away to a run-a-ball 64. But once he was bowled by Prashant Solanki, Karnataka were never in the hunt. They went down by 72 runs, bowled out for 250 in 42.4 overs.
The 20-year-old Padikkal was highly impressive during his stay out in the middle. He hit nine fours and a six during his knock. However, with the other Karnataka batsmen faltering, the team needed much more from him in the 2020-21 Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final.
Karnataka got off to a poor start in their chase, as skipper Ravikumar Samarth was cleaned up by Dhawal Kulkarni for eight. But Krishnamurthy Siddharth was a mere spectator as Padikkal went on the attack.
However, Mumbai pegged back Karnataka, as Siddharth and Manish Pandey were dismissed by Tanush Kotian for single-figure scores.
Karun Nair (29) and Shreyas Gopal (33) looked good during their brief stay. But with the pressure mounting, both were out caught behind.
BR Sharath struck a defiant 61 off 39, smashing eight fours and two sixes. But the game was well out of Karnataka’s grasp by then. Krishnappa Gowtham had some fun, striking 28 off 14, but the result of the second Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final was a foregone conclusion by then.
The Prithvi Shaw show continues in the Vijay Hazare Trophy semis
Karnataka elected to bowl first after winning the toss in the second semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. They were made to pay heavily, as Prithvi Shaw was in no mood to relent, smashing their bowlers all over the park.
Mumbai did not get off to a good start, as young Yashasvi Jaiswal was caught behind for six off Prasidh Krishna. The experienced Aditya Tare was then bowled by leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal for 16.
At the other end, though, Prithvi Shaw had already begun taking on the Karnataka attack. He kept finding the boundaries at regular intervals, bringing up his fifty off 48 balls. Prithvi Shaw found an able ally in Shams Mulani (45 off 71) as the duo put Karnataka on the backfoot.
Mulani was content playing the anchor role as the Mumbai skipper raced towards his hundred. Prithvi Shaw soon brought up his century off 79 balls, his fourth of the tournament, one of them being a double.
The partnership was broken when Mulani was caught off Krishnappa Gowtham’s bowling. The Shaw-Mulani duo had added 159 runs. By the time they were separated, Prithvi Shaw had crossed 160 and was looking set for another double.
However, he soon followed Mulani back to the pavilion, trapped lbw by Vijaykumar Vyshak for 165; Prithvi Shaw’s belligerent innings featured 17 fours and seven sixes.
During his knock, Prithvi Shaw also went past Mayank Agarwal’s tally of 723 runs to break the record for most runs scored by a batsman in a single edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Shaw has now amassed 754 runs in seven games.
20s from Shivam Dube and Aman Hakim Khan took Mumbai towards 300. However, Vyshak and Krishna ran through Mumbai’s lower order to restrict them to 322.
Vyshak ended with 4 for 56 and Krishna 3 for 64. However, the total proved beyond reach for Karnataka, in what turned out to be a one-sided Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final.