Vikram takes five-for as Punjab bowl out Haryana for 163

Paceman VRV Singh wreaked havoc with a five-wicket haul as Punjab bundled out Haryana for a mere 163 on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group A match at Bansi Lal cricket stadium, here today.
However, Punjab could not make the most of the advantageous situation as they lost three wickets for 50 in reply at the end of the day.
Experienced left-hander Uday Kaul (9) and night watchman Sandeep Sharma (0) will resume Punjab innings tomorrow.
Haryana's decision to bat backfired as India discard Vikarm and his pace colleague Sandeep Sharma shared eight wickets between them to bowl out the hosts for a mere 163.

It was Sandeep who rattled the top-order and then Vikram polished off the middle and lower order.
For Haryana, opener Avi Barot (65) scored a half-century but their middle-order crumbled in the face of some disciplined bowling.

It was a decent if not superb start for Haryana as Barot and Abhimanyu Khod (21) added 48 runs for the first wicket before latter was run out. One-down Sunny Singh was out first ball, caught behind off Sandeep.
Rahul Dalal (18) had sort of stabilised the innings with Barot but Sandeep struck again and had him leg before. Barot too fell, becoming first victim of Vikram. And in no time, the hosts were 113 for four.

After that only two batsmen -- stumper Nitin Saini (29) and Jayant Yadav (11) -- managed to get into double-digit scores and their innings fell like a house of cards.
Haryana lost last six wickets for addition of 50 runs.
Punjab lost both the openers Jiwanjot Singh (8) and R Inder Singh (22) along with skipper Mandeep Singh (2) as Haryana fought their way back in the match.
Brief Scores:
Haryana 1st innings: 163 all out in 50.1 overs.(A Barot 65, Nitin Saini 29; Vikram Singh 5/38, Sandeep Sharma 3/61).
Punjab 1st innings: 50 for 3 in 19 overs.(R Inder Singh 22; S Budhwar 1/2).