Ranji Trophy: Gurkeerat Singh Mann shines as Punjab beat Andhra by 7 wkts on Day 2

Gurkeerat Singh Mann continued to impress with his bowling.

Patiala: Off-spinner Gurkeerat Singh Mann registered his career best bowling figures as Punjab defeated a sorry-looking Andhra by seven wickets on the second day of a Group B Ranji Trophy cricket match, here. 

After the fall of 17 wickets on the opening day, it was no different today as well as 16 more tumbled on a rank turner at the Dhruve Pandove stadium. Resuming their first innings at 127 for seven in reply to Andhra 80 all out, Punjab added 20 more runs to finish on 147 to take a first innings lead of 67 runs. But the first innings lead hardly mattered as Punjab rode on Gurkeerat's innings-best five for 38 to bundle out Andhra for a meagre 133 in their second innings, thereby setting a paltry target of 67 runs to chase for an outright win with more than two days play remaining in the match. 

Gurkeerat finished with career-best match figures of nine for 52, which includes his first innings bowling figures of four for 14. 

Gurkeerat was ably supported by pacer Rajwinder Singh (3/33) who picked up three wickets in the second innings, while Sarabjit Ladda (2/40) accounted for two. The 67-run target was a mere formality for Punjab to complete which they achieved in 19.3 overs but not without losing three top-order batsmen. 

By virtue of this win, Punjab pocketed six points from the match while Andhra returned empty-handed. 

Brief Scores: 

Punjab: 147 & 67 for three in 19.3 overs (Mandeep Singh 22 not out; Hanumappa Shivraj 1/10).
Andhra: 80 & 133 all out in 41.4 overs (KS Bharat 39; Gurkeerat Singh 5/38).
Points: Punjab 6, Andhra 0.