Ranji Trophy: Baroda thrash Punjab by an innings and 116 runs

Vadodara: Baroda inflicted a massive innings and 116 runs defeat on Punjab on the back of an impressive pace-bowling performance on the third day of their Ranji Trophy cricket match here.

The home side bowlers, led by India discards Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel, took 17 Punjab wickets after the visiting side were asked to follow on to wrap up the match with one day remaining at the Moti Bagh Stadium.

The pressure was piling on Punjab after they resumed the day on 112 for 3 in reply to Baroda first innings total of 475 and the visiting side made a mess of their batting to be all out for 212 to concede a 263-run lead.

Irfan added another wicket to his overnight two while Munaf got two more today. Another pacer Hardik Pandya, who also had scored 59 in Baroda first innings, grabbed three wickets for a fine all-round show.

For Punjab, only Uday Kaul (58) could score a half century while another India discard Yuvraj Singh was the second highest scorer for Punjab with a 116-ball 43. Captain Harbhajan Singh made seven.

Following on, Punjab did even worse in their second innings than their first essay, getting all out for 147 in just 38.4 overs to lose the match by a huge margin and hand Baroda a bonus point.

Number nine batsman Siddarth Kaul was the highest scorer with an unbeaten 40 from 42 balls. Yuvraj flopped again as he made just 11 runs.

Irfan and Munaf shared the spoils again with three wickets apiece while Yusuf Pathan got two. Both Irfan and Munaf ended with six wickets apiece in the match.

Baroda secured seven points from the win while Punjab got none.

Brief Score:

Baroda: 475 (Kedar Devdhar 186, Aditya Waghmode 96, Hardik Pandya 59, Pinal Shah 55; Deepak Bansal 3/57)

Punjab: 212 & 147 in 38.4 overs (Siddarth Kaul 40 not out; Irfan Pathan 3/19, Munaf Patel 3/19).