Prithvi Shaw slams double cenutury for Northamptonshire in England's One-Day Cup

Prithvi Shaw returned to form in style while blitzing to a mammoth 153-ball 244 runs knock for Northamptonshire against Somerset in England's One-Day Cup tournament on Wednesday.

Shaw, 23, playing his maiden county season in England, struck 28 boundaries and 11 sixes enroute to his second List A double century. It took his tally of centuries in List A cricket to nine, and only the first since scoring 165 runs against Karnataka in the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final, when he led Mumbai to the title in 2020-21.

Playing his third match for Northamptonshire, Shaw reached his maiden ton in 81 balls. He then brought up the double century from 129 balls - taking 48 balls for the second ton - to power his side to 415/8. In reply, Somerset folded for 328 runs, despite a battling knock of 77 runs from Andy Umeed, to see out a 87-run win.

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"The sun was out, it was kind of like Indian weather today so it was really looking good," Shaw said. "You know when an inside edge doesn't get me out, that means this day is for me. You have to be lucky sometimes, so I think this was a day for me. I didn't look back after that."

The 451 run total was highest ever score for Northamptonshire and the sixth-highest worldwide in List A history.

Shaw's 244 run knock was better than his previous best of 227 runs for Mumbai against Puducherry at Jaipur in 2021. He also went past Ben Duckett's 220 not out for England Lions versus Sri Lanka 'A' in 2016 for the second-highest List A innings in England.

"The 227 was in my head to be honest. I spoke to Whitey [Whiteman] when he was there and I told him it's 227, my highest score. But it was a good team effort all around. I always try and win matches for the team and I'm the kind of a player who puts my team first and then myself. If scoring like this can help my team to win, then I should continue this."

On the motivation for playing county cricket, Shaw said, "Definitely experience for sure. Not really thinking what the Indian selectors may be thinking, but I just want to have a good time here, have a good time with the players over here and the support staff. Northamptonshire have given me this opportunity... they're really looking after me. I'm really enjoying it."

After a bright start to his India career, Shaw has slipped down the pecking order. He last played for the national team on the tour of Sri Lanka in July 2021, and was part of the squad for the T20Is against New Zealand earlier this year. However, he was left out for the ongoing tour of West Indies.