Shaw slams ton but Andhra take honours on Day 1

ONGOLE: Bowlers often complain about cricket being heavily skewed in favour of batsmen and this is promptly countered by the latter, saying they are constantly at the mercy of that one particular delivery that can turn things around dramatically. Who better than Siddhesh Lad to understand the importance of this argument?
The 25-year-old had battled on gamely for 202 balls on a difficult batting track for his 86 with merely eight deliveries remaining for the umpires to call an end to the opening day's play in the Ranji Trophy clash between Andhra Pradesh and Mumbai at the CSR Sarma ground here on Friday.He was facing up to medium pacer KV Sasikanth and was adjudged caught behind with Mumbai's score on
248. Lad did not seem happy with the decision, looking on desperately at umpire Ulhas Gandhe before walking back to the pavilion.
But Lad's was the wicket that titled the scales, probably decisively, in the hosts' favour on a day that saw neither side willing to concede an inch for all of 90 overs. Mumbai finished proceedings on 248-6 with Abhishek Nayar batting on 21off a patient 88 balls in the company of Dhawal Kulkarni, who was yet to get off the mark.
Opener Prithvi Shaw emerged Mumbai's top-scorer with 114 before he fell to pace bowler Bandaru Ayyappa, attempting to drive off his front foot. He could not reach out to the pitch of the delivery fully and ended up edging it to M Pranith at short cover. Shaw's was an innings laced with 14 boundaries and a six, and stood out for the quality of risk-free strokemaking and class.
The 18-year-old is a naturally aggressive batsman, but, he was an epitome of calmness on a pitch that the Andhra pacers, P Vijay Kumar (2/55) and Ayyappa (3/87) were exploiting to the hilt. He added an invaluable 125 runs alongside Lad off 39 overs after Mumbai found themselves struggling at 64-3. This was Shaw's third century this season after tons against Tamil Nadu and Odisha.
Earlier, Mumbai, who were asked to bat by Andhra skipper Hanuma Vihari, made three changes to the side that played against Baroda, with opener Jay Bista making the XI in place of Ajinkya Rahane, debutant spinner Karsh Kothari replacing counterpart Vijay Gohil and medium pacer Minad Manjrekar taking the injured Royston Dias' place.
They got off to a rather breezy start with Shaw and Bista putting on 20 in just three overs, thanks to the former's elegant drives and punches to the boundaries. Nevertheless, they were in trouble soon as Vijay Kumar struck twice in a space of three balls by getting rid of Bista and Shreyas Iyer.
While Bista fell for 4, attempting a feeble drive on the front foot only to end up getting caught by DB Prashanth Kumar at second slip, Iyer was unlucky to face up to an outstanding delivery having been there only for only a solitary ball. He was sent packing for nought when the ball, having landed at good length and climbed significantly, took a faint edge off his bat and landed in wicketkeeper KS Bharat's hand. Iyer has endured some horrifying times of late and his woes only got compounded by Vijay Kumar. Skipper Aditya Tare and Suryakumar Yadav too failed to make significant contributions, getting out for zero and 18 respectively.