Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Aditya Tare, Prithvi Shaw's fifties lead Mumbai to big win against Assam; Pondicherry beats Bengal

Mumbai: Prithvi Shaw made a splendid return to competitive cricket after serving a doping ban, hitting a 39-ball 63 to guide Mumbai to a 83-run win over Assam in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Sunday. All eyes were on Shaw, who played his first game after serving a back-dated eight-month suspension by the BCCI for failing a dope test and the pint-sized opener did not disappoint the small crowd at the Wankhede Stadium. [caption id=“attachment_7664681” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Aditya Tare top-scored (82) for Mumbai. Image courtesy: Twitter: @BCCI[/caption] Shaw, who came in for in-form Jay Bista, struck a blazing half-century and then celebrated in a ‘bat does the talk’ manner. Shaw and Aditya Tare (82 off 48 balls) toyed with a pedestrian Assam attack to help Mumbai post a massive 206 for 5 in the Group ‘D’ match. The Mumbai bowlers led by medium pacer Shivam Dube (2/3) then restricted the visitors to 123 for 8 to complete the win. The focus was firmly on Shaw, who was named in Mumbai’s last two games of the league stage of the Mushtaq Ali trophy and the subsequent super league stage on Thursday. The 20-year-old made his intent clear as he hit seven boundaries and two sixes in his 39-ball knock and made optimum use of a ’life’ which he got on 32 after being dropped at long-off. Shaw underlined his class, hitting some lovely shots and also struck two towering sixes. Tare was also in an attacking mood, smashing some well-timed boundaries. The two conjured up a 138-run stand for the first-wicket to lay the foundation of big total. Tare hammered 12 fours and a lone six. Assam leg-spinner Riyan Parag removed Tare and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (0), who had a rare failure, in successive deliveries of the 14th over. Shaw’s innings too ended after he became Parag’s (3-30) third victim as Mumbai slumped to 149 for 3. However, a quick-fire 32 off 14 balls by their crisis man Siddhesh Lad ensured that the hosts crossed the 200-run mark. The chase was always going to be difficult for Assam and Mumbai bowlers dished out a clinical show. Assam kept losing wickets and no other batsman apart from Riyan Parag (38 off 33 balls) showed spine as Mumbai defended the target with ease. Dhawal Kulkarni (2/28), Dube (2/3), Shams Mulani (2/15), Shardul Thakur (1-23) and Shreyas Iyer (1-28) shared the spoils. Meanwhile, in the first game at Bandra-Kurla Complex, Pondicherry defeated Bengal by four wickets to grab their four points. Brief scores: Mumbai 206 for 5 (Aditya Tare 82, Prithvi Shaw 63, Riyan Parag 3/30) beat Assam 123 for 8 (Riyan Parag 38, Sibsankar Roy 22, Shivam Dube 2/3) by 83 runs. Mumbai 4 points, Assam 0 points. Bengal 132 for 7 (Vivek Singh 43, Abhimanyu Easwaran 28, Suresh Kumar 4/17) lost to Pondicherry 135 for 6 (Rohit Damodaran 55, Suresh Kumar 16; Shahbaz Ahamad 2-16) by four wickets. Pondicherry 4 points, Bengal: 0.