New Delhi: Mumbai’s in-form skipper Prithvi Shaw slammed a 122-ball 165 and powered his team to a comfortable 72-run win over Karnataka in the semifinal of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Thursday.
Mumbai will meet Uttar Pradesh in the final at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Sunday. In the other semifinal, UP defeated Gujarat by five wickets. Owing to Shaw’s brilliance, Mumbai posted 322 after being put in to bat at the Airforce ground before bowling out the opposition for 250, with their bowlers putting up a splendid performance. It was Shaw’s show all the way as he toyed with an experienced Karnataka attack, and went on to register his fourth century of the tournament, hammering 17 fours and seven maximums.
Shaw had earlier scored three tons, including a double – 105 not out against Delhi, 227 not out against Puducherry and 185 not out against Saurashtra. He has amassed 754 runs so far in the tournament – the single highest in an edition of the national ODI championship. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (6) fell early, with Mumbai at 11/1. But Shaw went on the offensive and spared no bowler even as wicket-keeper Aditya Tare (16) played second fiddle to his marauding partner at the other end.
Karnataka pegged back Mumbai by dismissing both the set batsmen in quick succession as they slipped to 243/4. Chasing 323, Karnataka lost skipper R Samarth (8). Then Devdutt Padikkal (64) and Siddharth KV (8) tried to rally the innings, with their 68-run-stand, but it was 22-year-old off-spinner Tanush Kotian (2/23), who inflicted Karnataka a double blow by dismissing Siddharth and skipper Manish Pandey.
In the other semis, Akshdeep Nath’s tight seam-up stuff along with a useful half-century helped Uttar Pradesh defeat Gujarat. Opting to bat at the Ferozshah Kotla, Gujarat top-order put up an ordinary show and found the going tough against some relentless UP bowling attack to be bundled out for a paltry 184 in 48.1 overs with Nath taking 1 for 29 in 6 overs apart from pacers Yash Fayal and Aaqib Khan finishing with three and two scalps respectively.
In reply, UP survived some early hiccups before Nath wrested control with a calculated 104-ball 71 (8×4), while the in-form Upendra Yadav sealed the issue with an unbeaten 31 from 25 balls.
Brief Scores (Semifinals)
Mumbai 322 in 50 overs (Prithvi Shaw 165; V Vyshak 4/56; M Prasidh Krishna 3/64) bt Karnataka 250 in 42.4 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 64, BR Sharath 61; Tanush Kotian 2/23)
Gujarat 184 in 48.1 overs (Het Patel 60; Yash Dayal 3/34) lost to Uttar Pradesh 188/5 in 42.4 overs (Akshdeep Nath 71)
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