MOHALI: The New Year could not have begun on a better note for
Punjab. A combined bowling effort and a solid opening partnership helped the team defeat
Kerala by 10 wickets on the third day at the PCA stadium here on Tuesday, keeping its knock-out berth chances alive.
Leg-spinner
Mayank Markande (4/56) recorded his second four-wicket in
Ranji Trophy, while pacers
Manpreet Gony (2/20), Baltej Singh (2/73) and Siddarth Kaul (2/65) continued their first innings form as Kerala were folded up for 223 in73.1 overs.
Chasing the modest total of 128, openers Jiwanjot Singh (48 not out) and Shubman Gill (69 not out) ensured there were no hiccups in reaching the target. Punjab gained seven points, including a bonus and face Bengal next from January 7.
The day began with Mohammed Azharuddeen sending the ball to the boundary twice off Siddharth Kaul in the first over. But in the very next over, Manpreet Gony's inswinger cleaned up Sachin Baby (16). The wicket was playing well and it looked Punjab bowlers would run riot. However, Azharuddeen had some other things in his mind. He added a crucial 55 runs for the fifth wicket with Vishnu Vinod and in the meantime also completed his maiden first-class century. At one stage, it looked like the wicket-keeper had dragged Kerala back into the contest. But he got a snorter from Baltej Singh and Anmolpreet took an easy catch at the second slip to send him back to the pavilion.
His dismissal opened the floodgates. From 4 for 190, Kerala were bundled out for 223 runs. They lost their last six wickets for only 33 runs.
Baltej struck again in his next over, when he cleaned up all-rounder Jalaj Saxena for 3. Meanwhile, Vishnu Vinod showed some resistance, but his enterprising knock was cut short by a ripping googly. A couple of balls later, Basil Thampi was caught by substitute Vinay Chaudhary off Markande's bowling. At lunch, Kerala were 220 for 8.
Kerala's second innings ended 11 minutes after the lunch. Nidheesh was clean bowled by Markande. Sijomon Joseph went for a wild hoick against Kaul and was caught by Shubman Gill at mid-wicket.
Punjab skipper Mandeep Singh was pleased with the performance of his team. He said: "It was an all-round effort and if we will remain consistent in our last match, we can go all the way. We have one more match to go against Bengal. We will go for the kill."
Mandeep also heaped praises on leg-spinner Markande and pacer Baltej Singh, but at the same time he said regular batting collapse is a concern.
"Markande and Baltej were exceptional for us. To be honest, if Markande would not have missed couple of matches due to the Emerging Trophy tournament, we could have cemented our knock out place. He is the find of the season for us. Baltej has been equally good for us. The way he had supported Gony and Sid is phenomenal," he added.
Sachin Baby counted the batting collapse as unacceptable. He said: "Batting collapse in the both the innings hurt us. Especially in the second, when Azhar had helped us to regain the momentum, but we had just too many soft dismissals. Punjab bowled really well… but we should have batted better."
Player of the match Siddharth Kaul believes this Punjab team is good enough to play in the knock outs. He said: "We have a balanced team. There is one more match to go and if we will show the same intent, we can get another outright win against Bengal."
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