Ranji Trophy: Prithvi Shaw Slams Third Fastest Double Ton

Chandigarh: Opener Prithvi Shaw slammed the third fastest double century by an Indian batter in first-class cricket as Maharashtra set Chandigarh an imposing target of 464 on the third day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match here on Monday.At stumps, Goa were 129 for one with Arjun Azad and skipper Manan Vohra batting on 63 and 53 respectively.

However, the day truly belonged to Shaw who got to his double century in just 141 balls in Maharashtra's second innings of the match.

He is now only behind Ravi Shastri (123 balls vs Baroda in 1985) and Tanmay Agarwal (119 balls vs Arunachal Pradesh in 2024).

Maharashtra declared their second innings at 359 for three in just 52 overs, batting at a brisk pace with Shaw leading the charge.

The 25-year-old out-of-favour India player hit 222 in just 156 balls, striking 29 fours and five sixes during his blazing innings.

He was batting on 41 overnight.

This was Shaw's first Ranji hundred for Maharashtra. He reached the three-figure mark in just 72 balls, marking his 14th first-class hundred.

In his Ranji debut for Maharashtra, he had scored 75 in the second innings against Kerala after falling for a duck in the first essay.

At Shivamogga, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar's son Arjun was working hard to save Goa with his valiant batting after Karnataka bowlers struck at regular intervals to put their team in a commanding position.

At stumps on the third day, Tendulkar junior was batting on 43, and Mohit Redkar was giving him company on 24 as Goa reached 171 for six, replying to former champions Karnataka's first innings total of 371.

Tendulkar's knock contained five fours and a six, and came off 115 balls after Karnataka reduced Goa to 115 for six.

The duo of Tendulkar and Redkar added 56 runs for the seventh wicket to give their team's total a semblance of respectability after Abhilash Shetty and Vidwath Kaverappa combined to take five of the six wickets to fall on the day.

Resuming the day on 28 for one, Goa were off to a poor start as they lost Suyash Prabhudessai for the addition of just one run, and they kept losing wickets at regular intervals until Tendulkar and Redkar came to the team's rescue with their resolute batting.

However, despite their brave efforts with the bat, Karnataka remained in control of the match and are ahead of Goa by exactly 200 runs.

Lalit Yadav chipped in with 36 off 96 balls for Goa, even as most of their top and middle-order batters failed to fire.

Earlier on day two, Karun Nair made his 25th first-class hundred to take Karnataka to a strong position on the rain-hit second day.

Karun, who was omitted from the India Test squad after a middling series in England recently, made 174 off 267 balls.

Brief scores:

At Chandigarh: Maharashtra: 313 all out and 359/3 declared in 52 overs (Prithvi Shaw 222) vs Chandigarh: 209 all out in 73 overs and 129/1 in 34 overs (Arjun Azad 63 batting, Manan Vohra 53 batting).

At Shivamogga: Karnataka: 371 all out in 110.1 overs (Karun Nair 174 not out, Shreyas Gopal 57; Arjun Tendulkar 3/100, Vasuki Koushik 3/35) vs Goa 171 for six in 77 overs (Arjun Tendulkar 43 batting; Abhilash 3/63)

At Rajkot: Saurashtra: 260 all out vs Madhya Pradesh: 355/9 in in 135 overs (Yash Dubey 159, Saransh Jain 103 batting; Jaidev Unadkat 4/33).

At Mullanpur: Punjab: 436 all out in 163.4 overs (Harnoor Singh 170, Prerit Dutta 74; Ankit Sharma 4/103) vs Kerala: 158/4 in 63 overs (Ankit Sharma 62).