IND Red v IND Blue, Duleep Trophy final, Day 1 Review: Shaw, Karthik hundreds put India Red in the driving seat

17-year old Prithvi Shaw hogged the headlines on Day 1 of the Duleep Trophy final game played in Lucknow. Fresh from his stint in England with the U-19 team, Shaw made a monumental 154 on his Duleep Trophy debut. The Mumbaikar showed his mettle on the big stage playing in just his 3rd first-class game.

Karthik, Shaw deflate India Blue after early wickets

Dinesh Karthik joined in to give company to the teenager. The skipper looked in imperious touch himself, notching up his second century of the tournament and his 27th of his first-class career. The right-hander did no harm to his case to stake a claim for a position in the Indian middle order. Karthik was involved in a stand of 211 runs with rookie Shaw before the former was trapped in front by off-spinner Akshay Wakhare. He eventually made 111 off just 155 balls with the help of 12 boundaries. His slick knock ensured that his side scored runs quickly, adding to the troubles of the India Blue side.

The day truly belonged to the U-19 star Shaw, who has already made a reputation in domestic cricket. He was handed a first-class debut by Mumbai earlier this year and responded by scoring a century on debut. He is yet to play an Irani Trophy game and if he scores a hundred on debut in that tournament, he will join Sachin Tendulkar to become only the second cricketer to have scored centuries on their Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, and Irani Trophy debut. He was patient initially but played his shots after getting his eye in. The right-hander was involved in a 70-run opening partnership with Akhil Herwadkar before the latter was smartly run out by Jaydev Unadkat. The way both the youngsters were going about their business, a run out looked like the only way to dislodge them. Suryakumar Yadav, playing in his first game of the tournament, didn’t make most of his chance as he played at one which he shouldn’t have and handed a simple catch to Raina at first slip.

Ishant Sharma disappoints

The presence of Test star Ishant Sharma, who was recently handed the reins of the Delhi stateside, in the opposition camp did not deter Shaw from his objectives. He was finally dismissed by a peach of a delivery by left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt for a 249-ball 154 just minutes before the stumps were drawn. His innings was studded with 18 fours and a six but he would be disappointed to lose his wicket just two overs prior to the close of play. Bhatt struck again in his next over to remove last match’s double centurion Baba Indrajith. India Blue will be very happy to pick two crucial wickets before the end of play and would want to wrap up things as quickly as possible tomorrow afternoon.

India Red still have a fair amount of batting to come. They finished the day at 317 for 5 but would have liked to have one less wicket down. With Ishank Jaggi on the crease and Washington Sundar to follow, the Karthik-led side will not be targeting anything less than 450. Suresh Raina, on the other hand, would pester his boys to give a big push in the first session of Day 2 in order to stay in contention in the game. Apart from the runout, all four wickets fell to spin with Bhatt leading the bowling charts with a decent haul of 3/83 while Wakhare returned with 1/62. Test players Ishant Sharma and Pankaj Singh had a forgettable time with the pink ball, giving away 95 runs in 21 overs of fast bowling collectively.

Brief Scores

India Red: 317 for 5 in 83.3 overs (Prithvi Shaw 154, Dinesh Karthik 111, Bhargav Bhatt 3/83).