Prithvi Shaw’s 185* powers Mumbai into Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final

Mumbai made easy work of their knockout game against Saurashtra, beating them by nine wickets to march into the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final.

Prithvi Shaw and Yashasvi Jaiswal put together a stunning 238-run stand, and Shaw ended up just shy of another double ton in a batting masterclass.

Saurashtra recovered well to end their innings with a flourish, but their first innings total was always going to be below par. The bowlers surrendered without much fight as they were blown away by Prithvi Shaw’s stupendous knock.

Brief scores: Mumbai 285/1 (Prithvi Shaw 185*, Yashasvi Jaiswal 75; Jaydev Unadkat 1/52) beat Saurashtra 284/5 (Samarth Vyas 90*, Chirag Jani 53*; Shams Mulani 2/51, Tanush Kotian 1/30) by 9 wickets

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The total was never going to be enough for a batting-heavy Mumbai side, and they made sure they wrapped up the chase in no time. Prithvi Shaw led from the front, scoring a stunning 185 that included 21 fours and seven sixes.

Mumbai began the run chase in aggressive fashion. Buoyed by Prithvi Shaw’s stroke play, they were 72/0 in 10 overs as the 21-year-old brought up his fifty in just 29 balls.

Yashasvi Jaiswal held up one end and was content to see his partner do the bulk of the scoring, with Mumbai going past the 150 mark inside 22 overs.

Prithvi Shaw scored his third ton of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021, reaching the milestone in 67 balls. None of the Saurashtra bowlers seemed to have any answers as Mumbai toyed with them.

Unlike his skipper, Yashasvi Jaiswal wasn’t in a hurry to wrap up the chase, reaching his fifty in 84 balls. Meanwhile, Prithvi Shaw smacked Saurashtra bowlers to all corners of the ground, with the team using nine bowlers in their quest for a wicket.

With Prithvi Shaw racing to his 150 in 100 balls, it looked for a while that the Mumbai skipper would get his second double hundred of the tournament.

Third century for Prithvi Shaw in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2020-21 & on all three occasions he has stayed unbeaten: 105*(89) v Delhi (chasing 212), 227*(152) v Puducherry (Mumbai scored 457) & 185*(123) v Saurashtra (chasing 285)

— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) March 9, 2021

But Saurashtra finally had something to smile about, as Jaydev Unadkat castled Yashasvi Jaiswal’s stumps when the batsman was batting at 75.

Aditya Tare came in next and wrapped up the chase without fuss with 8.1 overs to go, as Prithvi Shaw remained unbeaten.

With a comprehensive win, Mumbai marched into the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-finals and look like the team to beat in the knockout stages.

Saurashtra’s late recovery not enough to keep Mumbai at bay

Mumbai Won by 9 Wicket(s) (Qualified) #MUMvSAU @paytm #VijayHazareTrophy #QF4 Scorecard:https://t.co/sx67D7bsmm

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) March 9, 2021

Saurashtra couldn’t make the most of their opportunity after winning the toss and batting first. The side kept losing wickets at regular intervals and a late surge was only enough to get them to 284/5.

They started the innings slowly, with both Avi Barot and Snell Patel taking time to settle in.

While Mumbai pacers Tushar Deshpande and Mohit Avasthi didn’t let Saurashtra run away with it, they also couldn’t get Mumbai that elusive early break, with the batting side reaching 50 in 11.1 overs.

But the change in bowling did the trick as Mumbai hit back with three wickets from overs 14 to 20. Shams Mulani bowled Snell Patel for Mumbai’s first breakthrough, while Shivam Dube sent back Avi Barot.

Mulani struck again to get Prerak Mankad, with Saurashtra’s scoreboard reading 85-3 at one stage.

Vishvaraj Jadeja held his nerve for Saurashtra as wickets fell around him, scoring runs at a good click. He looked in decent touch, ensuring Saurashtra remained in the game during the middle overs.

But Jadeja went moments after bringing up his List A fifty, with P H Solanki picking up his first of the day.

Mumbai pegged Saurashtra back at 155/5, and it looked like they wouldn’t go past 250 at one stage. But in what proved to be Saurashtra’s strongest passage of play, Samarth Vyas and Chirag Jani got together for an impressive 129-run partnership.

Samarth Vyas counter-attacked after coming in, reaching his half-century at run a ball. Chirag Jani went one step further, bringing up his milestone in just 34 balls.

The duo scored at over 10 runs per over in the final eight overs, getting Saurashtra to 284/5.