Ranji Trophy: Shivam Dube’s blitz, Shaw’s comeback and Mumbai’s dominance

KOLKATA: India's T20 specialist Shivam Dube continued his recent streak of form with a counter-attacking fifty that proved to be the cornerstone of Mumbai's excellent 330 for six against Bengal on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B clash at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday.

Fresh from his T20I exploits against Afghanistan and a century in Mumbai's last match against Uttar Pradesh, Dube carried forward his form to smash 12 fours and one six in his 73-ball 72.

Leading the side in absence of an injured Ajinkya Rahane, who is sidelined with a hamstring strain, the left-hander dealt in boundaries early on.

Dube also brought out the best from Suryansh Shedge, who was dropped by Ishan Porel early in his innings, but went on to post 71 (76b; 12x4).

Their 144-run counter-punching stand for the fifth wicket put the pressure back on the home side as the likes of Porel and Mohammed Kaif looked clueless.

After the duo's departure, Tanush Kotian (55 batting off 73) and Atharva Ankolekar (41 batting off 78) continued the assault, adding to the misery of the Manoj Tiwary-led side.

They duo's unbroken seventh-wicket partnership was worth 99 runs that came off just 147 deliveries.

Earlier, returning to action after recovering from a knee ligament injury, opener Prithvi Shaw scored a brisk 35 off 42 balls after Tiwary opted to bowl under overcast conditions.

But he could not convert his start and got out soon after his opening partner Bhupen Lalwani departed for 18 (56b).

Suraj Jaiswal was the most impressive of the lot returning with 3/95 as the home side will look to strike early and break Mumbai's batting rhythm.

Brief Scores

At Kolkata: Mumbai 330/6 in 75 overs (Shivam Dube 72, Suryansh Shedge 71, Tanush Kotian 55 batting, Atharva Ankolekar 41 batting; Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 3/95) vs Bengal.

At Patna: Bihar 182 in 86.5 overs (Raghuvendra Pratap Singh 92, Himanshu Singh 32 not out; Girinath Reddy 5/23, Nitish Kumar Reddy 2/50) vs Andhra.

At Raipur: Kerala 219/4 in 74 overs (Sachin Baby 91, Sanju Samson 57 batting, Rohan Prem 51; Ashish Chouhan 2/47) vs Chhattisgarh.

At Surat: Railways 155 all out in 56 overs (Pratham Singh 56, Mohammad Saif 45; Vasuki Koushik 3/22, Hardik Raj 3/28) vs Karnataka 90/6 in 27.5 overs (KV Aneesh 27; Akash Pandey 3/21).

At Povorim: Goa 241 all out in 75.5 overs (Suyash Prabhudesai 104, KV Siddharth 69; R Sai Kishore 4/73, S Ajith Ram 3/46) vs Tamil Nadu 20 for no loss in 7 overs.

At Ahmedabad: Tripura 146 all out in 47.4 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 59 not out, Sankar Paul 29; Arzan Nagaswalla 4/47, SA Desai 4/43) vs Gujarat 127/4 in 39.2 overs (Sunpreet Bagga 42; Parvez Sultan 2/36).

At Mohali: Punjab 307/2 in 75 overs (Anmolpreet Singh 132 batting, Prabhsimran Singh 76 batting, Naman Dhir 86) vs Chandigarh. Agencies

Also Read: India batter Prithvi Shaw to make Ranji Trophy return

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