Gagandeep inspires Punjab to innings victory

Mediumpacer Gagandeep Singh inspired a dismal second innings collapse by Haryana to give Punjab a crushing innings and 123 run victory in their North Zone Ranji Trophy match at the Gandhi Ground in Amritsar. Gagandeep's 6/14 in 13.5 overs saw Haryana plummet to 82 all out as the hosts completed their third successive innings victory and bolstered their position at the top of the zonal table with 24 points.

Earlier, resuming at 247/7 in their first innings, Haryana were dismissed for 281 in the 128th over. Gagandeep took both wickets that fell to the bowlers this morning, finishing with 3/55 although Harbhajan Singh still retained the best figures of the innings with 4/77.

The collapse that followed was dramatic. Gagandeep breached the Haryana citadel by bowling Jasvir Singh in his first over and the second of the innings. Haryana were soon staring down the barrel at 18/6, with Gagandeep figuring in five of those dismissals. One more wicket fell at 31 before Rajesh Puri and Pankaj Thakur added 37 for the eighth wicket to spare the visitors further embarrassment. Puri's 33 (84 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) was the topscore in an innings that saw only one other person reach double figures, No.10 Vineet Jain who made 11.