Prithvi Shaw lit up the final day of the Ranji Trophy match between Kerala and Maharashtra in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday with a half-century.
| Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
With rain slicing a large chunk of game time on the first three days, the only academic interest on the final day was whether Prithvi Shaw could replicate his Ranji Trophy debut century for Mumbai for his new team Maharashtra at the Greenfield stadium on Saturday.
The conditions were far from imposing as the pitch had eased out and was favouring the batters. The stars also aligned in Prithvi’s favour as he got a life off the first ball of the day with B. Aparajith dropping a sitter at point off M.D. Nidheesh.
Prithvi showed restraint by eschewing the big shots and worked the ball around for his runs. But his intention to attack left-arm spinner Akshay Chandran brought about his downfall as he snicked one to wicketkeeper Mohammed Azharuddeen and was dismissed for 75.
The attention then centered around Ruturaj Gaikwad, who played fluently to reach his second half-century of the match, an unbeaten 55. Siddhesh Veer, who was dropped by Sanju Samson on three in the slips off Ankit Sharma, compiled an unbeaten 55. Gaikwad and Veer added 104 runs for the third wicket when both captains agreed to a draw at the end of the post-lunch session.
Kerala captain Azharuddeen rued the missed opportunity and blamed the senior batters for not converting their starts into big scores. “The senior batters should have converted their starts into big knocks. We had the better of the conditions on the first day and on the third day. There was help for the bowlers in the first hour and we reduced them to 18 for five. But Ruturaj and Jalaj batted very well. When we batted on the third day, the pitch had eased out. But we couldn’t convert it to our advantage.
“Jalaj’s presence also made a difference for Maharashtra. He knew Salman Nizar would attack the spinners and advised Ankit Bawne to spread the field and persist with pace ,’‘ he added.
The scores: Maharashtra – 1st innings: 239.
Kerala – 1st innings: 219.
Maharashtra – 2nd innings: Prithvi Shaw c Azharuddeen b Akshay 75, Arshin Kulkarni lbw b Basil 34, Siddhesh Veer not out 55, Ruturaj Gaikwad not out 55. Extras (b-4, lb-1): 5, Total (for two wkts. in 71 overs): 224.
Fall of wickets: 1-84, 2-121.
Kerala bowling: Nidheesh 8-1-36-0, Ankit 24-0-75-0, Akshay 21-2-51-1, Basil 7-0-23-1, Aparajith 11-1-34-0.
Published – October 18, 2025 08:19 pm IST
