BENGALURU: Seventeen-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal struck a blazing 203 as Mumbai beat Jharkhand by 39 runs in their final Elite Group A match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Wednesday. The left-handed Jaiswal, at 17 years and 192 days, became the first male teenager in the world to score a double-century in List-A cricket. Before him, the youngest was Alan Barrow who scored a double ton at the age of 20 years, 273 days in South Africa in 1975.
Jaiswal’s knock comes just days after Kerala wicket- keeper-batsman Sanju Samson hit an unbeaten 212 in the Hazare Trophy. Jaiswal’s knock was a ninth instance of an Indian scoring a List A double-ton, and he joined the elite list of Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma and Virender Sehwag. Riding on Jaiswal’s double hundred, Mumbai posted 358 for 3 in 50 overs and bowled out the opposition for 319.
Jaiswal took the opposition bowlers to the task and played around the park in his usual aggressive fashion at the Alur Cricket Stadium III here. He struck 17 fours and 12 sixes and also built a mammoth 200-run stand with experienced wicket-keeper batsman Aditya Tare, who played the perfect second fiddle with a knock of 78 off 102 balls.
Tare hit six boundaries and a lone six as the opening pair laid the foundation for a big score. Tare’s departure in the 35th over had no impact on Jaiswal, who was already among the runs in the national ODI tournament. Jaiswal kept playing his shots at will and completed a memorable double hundred, his first in List A cricket.
One drop batsman Siddhesh Lad (32) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (31 not out) also chipped in as Mumbai went past the 350 -run mark. Jharkhand bowlers including out-of-favour India pacer Varun Aaron had an off day in the field. Aaron went for 77 runs in his 10 overs without a wicket. Jharkhand were teetering at 66 for 3 at one stage, but then Virat Singh (100) and Saurabh Tiwary (77) stitched a crucial 171-run stand for the fourth wicket. However, when it looked like the duo was taking the game away from Mumbai, Lad sent back Tiwary and shortly after that Virat Singh gave a catch to Shreyas Iyer off Dhawal Kulkarni as Jharkhand slumped to 267/5.
Anukul Roy hit a 40-ball 46 to keep his side in the hunt but once he walked back to the pavilion it was all but over for Jharkhand as they were dismissed for 319. For Mumbai, pacer Dhawal Kulkarni ended with figures of 5 for 37. Jaiswal told PTI over the phone that he would enjoy the moment, but work even harder in future. “It is a good feeling but I need to work more and this is just the beginning and I need to focus on my next tournament. I am happy for today and will try to ensure I continue to play these kinds of knocks,” he said.
Jaiswal had stayed in the tent of his club in south Mumbai during his early days as he could not afford to rent a house and sold `paani puri’ in the streets before he was spotted by coach Jwala Singh.
Mumbai coach Vinayak Samant heaped praises on Jaiswal, saying he did justice to the faith reposed in him by the selectors. Meanwhile, Karnataka opener Devdutt Padikkal slammed unbeaten 102 as they defeated Goa by eight wickets in their last Elite Group A match at the Alur Cricket Stadium II near here.
Put into bat, Goa were bundled out for 171 and later Karnataka chased down the target in 34.2 overs. In another Group A game, Kerala defeated Andhra by six wickets as they chased 231 run target with ease, courtesy opener Vishu Vinod’s 139.
Whether Mumbai reaches the quarterfinals will be known after the conclusion of all group A and B matches. Brief Scores: Mumbai 358/3 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 203, Aditya Tare 78, Siddhesh Lad 32; Vivekanand Tiwari 2-32) beat Jharkhand 319 all out (Virat Singh 100, Saurabh Tiwary 77; Dhawal Kulkarni 5-37) Mumbai 4 points, Jharkhand 0 points.
Andhra 230/6 (Ricky Bhui 58, Karan Shinde 38; Midhun Sudhesan A 2-15) lost to Kerala 233/4 (Vishnu Vinod 139, Jalaj Saxena 46 not out; Poreddy Girinath Reddy 3/27) by 6 wickets.
Andhra: 0 points, Kerala: 4 points
Goa 171 all out (Aditya Dharmesh 75, Darshan Misal 33 not out; Pravin Kumar Dubey 3-29) lost to Karnataka 177/2 (Devdutt Padikkal 102 not out, Manish Pandey 34 not out, Lakshay Garg 1-27) by 8 wickets. Karnataka 4 points, Goa 0 points. PTI
