Siddarth Kaul brings Punjab back in game with five-for show

Nagpur: Paceman Siddarth Kaul returned a five-for in Punjab's terrific comeback against Vidarbha as an intense fight was on for the first innings lead at the end of day two in the Ranji Trophy Group B cricket match, here on Monday.

Defending a modest first innings total of 195, Punjab reduced Vidarbha to 149 for six, with 24-year-old Kaul claiming five wickets for 44 runs.

Amol Ubarhande (15) and Rajesh Dhruv (7) were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day. The hosts trail Punjab by 46 runs.

Kaul began the rot in the fourth over of the day when he had opener Sanjay Ramaswamy (2) caught behind. The other opener Faiz Fazal (2) was also caught behind off Sandeep Sharma three balls later.

Kaul struck again when he trapped Ganesh Satish (18) but seasoned S Badrinath (62) joined hands with S Shrivastava (29) for a 79-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Kaul brought relief for Punjab when he had Shrivastava caught by Gurkeerat Singh and went on to claim two more batsmen.

He had R Jangid (10) caught behind and also removed set batsman Badrinath, who faced 177 balls.

Badrinath hit three fours and twi sixes in his patient knock.