Prithvi Shaw Smashes First List A Century for Mumbai

Cricketnext Staff | Updated: September 23, 2018, 1:31 PM IST

Under-19 World Cup winning skipper Prithvi Shaw seems to be making all the right moves ahead of the West Indies tour of India which starts next month. The 18-year-old, on Sunday (September 23), scored 129 off just 81 deliveries for Mumbai in their 2018-19 Vijay Hazare Trophy encounter against Railways.

The 18-year-old had already scored two List A centuries for India A, but this was his first for Mumbai.

Mumbai lost skipper Ajinkya Rahane for just three runs but that didn't stop in-form Shaw from playing his natural game. He went after the Railways bowlers from the word go and brought up his century in only 61 balls.

Shaw smashed 14 fours and six maximums during his stay in the middle and shared a 161-run stand with Shreyas Iyer, who himself scored his 12th List A century before being dismissed for 144, which he scored in 118 balls. Shaw finally fell to offspinner Prashant Awasthi in the 26th over.

Apart from Shaw and Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav (67) and Siddhesh Lad (19-ball 30*) too chipped in as Mumbai finished on 400 for 5 in 50 overs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. This is only the second instance of a team breaching the 400-run mark in a domestic List A game in India. In 2010, Madhya Pradesh scored 412 for 6 in 50 overs, also against Railways.

Shaw has been in tremendous form in this tournament. He blasted a 66-ball 98 in Mumbai's first game against Baroda and then hit a 53-ball 60 versus Karnataka.

He was called up to the Indian Test squad for the last two Tests of the five-match series against England in place of Murali Vijay. He didn't get a game, but the selectors have made it pretty clear that Shaw is one for the future. He has also been included Board Presidents XI team that will play a two-day practice match against Windies.