Vadodara: Young opener Prithvi Shaw made a spectacular return to first-class cricket by slamming a blazing double century against Baroda to put his team Mumbai in command in their Ranji Trophy opener here Wednesday.
Mumbai, who had made 431 in their first essay, got the crucial first-innings lead after bundling out Baroda for 307 as they could add only six runs to their overnight total.
For Baroda, opener Kedar Devdhar remained unbeaten on 160.
And courtesy Shaw’s 202 off just 179 balls and skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s quick-fire unbeaten 102, Mumbai declared their second innings at 409/4, setting Baroda a mammoth target of 534.
Mumbai’s second innings was all about Shaw, who was playing his first first-class game after serving eight-month doping ban, and the pint-sized opener made optimum use of the opportunity.
Shaw, who could be in contention for third opener’s slot in Tests, took a listless Baroda attack to cleansers, hammering 19 fours and seven sixes at the Reliance Stadium.
The right-handed batsman had all shots in the book as he raced to his 100 in just 84 balls and then converted it into a memorable double ton.
Shaw and Jay Bista (68) laid the foundation of the mammoth total by conjuring 190 run stand for the first wicket.
The youngster from Virar was going all guns blazing while Bista, who hit seven boundaries, played second fiddle.
However, Baroda grabbed three quick wickets of Bista, one-down Shubham Ranjane (2) and Test specialist Ajinkya Rahane (9), who had a rare failure.
The fall of wickets did not deter Shaw, who kept playing his aggressive game. He found an able ally in Surya, who raced his way to 102 not out in 70 balls, with 12 fours and five sixes.
The two stitched a 78-run stand for the fourth wicketto take the game away from Baroda.
Yadav, who was in red hot form in Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, continued his good form.
After Shaw fell, Surya took the onus on himself to score fast and on completion of his century, Mumbai declared their innings.
All Baroda bowlers including spinner Bhargav Bhatt (1-152) had a forgettable day.
Baroda needing 534 runs for a win finished the third day at 74/3 with Mumbai left-arm spinner Shams Mulani taking 2 wickets.
The hosts have a mountain to climb while Mumbai need seven wickets for an outright win.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 431 and 409/4 Declared (Prithvi Shaw 202, Suryakumar Yadav 102 not out; Soyeb Sopariya 2-35) versus Baroda 307 (Kedar Devdhar 160 not out, Vishnu Solanki 48; Shams Mulani 6-99) and 74/3 (Viraj Bhosale 41; Abhimanyusingh Rajput 16; Shams Mulani 2-28).
Baroda need 460 runs to win.
At Dharamshala: Himachal Pradesh 120 and 182 (Ankush Bains 74, Rishi Dhawan 53; Jaydev Unadkat 6-51) lost to Saurashtra 141 and 165/5 (Prerak Mankad 47 not out, Harvik Desai 46; Vaibhav Arora 3-57) by five wickets.
At Meerut: Railways 253 and 270 (Dinesh Mor 102, Amit Mishra 43 not out; Shivam Mavi 4-19, Yash Dayal 4-73) versus Uttar Pradesh 175 and 23/0. (Aryan Juyal 13 not out, Almas Shaukat 10 not out; Karn Sharma 0-2).
UP need 326 runs to win.
PTI