Zaheer Khan celebrated his return to the Indian team by taking four wickets and along with fellow Baroda pacer Rakesh Patel wrecking Punjab on the opening day of their Ranji Tropy Elite Group 'B' match in Vadodara on Sunday.
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Zaheer, included in the Pakistan-bound squad after being out in the cold for 12 ODIs and 3 Tests, grabbed 4 for 46 while Patel took 5 for 31 as Punjab were bundled out for a paltry 130 in 56 overs after being asked to bat first at the Motibaug Palace ground.
Baroda, in reply, were 60 for one off 32 overs at stumps, with Connor Williams (46) and Kiran Powar (7) the unbeaten batsmen at the crease.
Zaheer and Patel reduced Punjab to 68 for 7 before Amit Uniyal (40 off 80 balls with 4 fours and a six) and Gagandeep Singh (20 not out off 58 balls) with their 62-run stand ensured that the score went past the three-figure mark.
But once this partnership was broken by left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar, Punjab's first innings ended quickly with Patel firing out the last two batsmen for ducks.
Zaheer, who has shortened his run-up and is reaping rich rewards because of this small adjustment, picked up the wickets of opener Ravneet Ricky, Pankaj Dharmani, G Gupta and U Kaul in 16 overs.
Patel got rid off opener Manish Sharma, India discard Dinesh Mongia, Reetinder Sodhi and tail enders Rajesh Sharma and Hardevinder Singh.
Scorecard:
Punjab (1st innings):
R Ricky c P Shah b Zaheer Khan 10
M Sharma c P Shah b Rakesh Patel 9
D Mongia c P Shah b Rakesh Patel 6
P Dharmani lbw Zaheer Khan 3
R Sodhi lbw Rakesh Patel 13
G Gupta c P Shah b Zaheer Khan 6
U Kaul b Zaheer Khan 6
A Uniyal c Yusuf Pathan b Pawar 40
G Singh not out 20
R Sharma b Rakesh Patel 0
H Singh b Rakesh Patel 0
Extras (b-8, lb-2, nb-1, w-6) 17
Total (all out in 56 overs) 130
Fall of wkts: 1-19, 2-19, 3-28, 4-28, 5-50, 6-60, 7-68, 8-1130, 9-130.
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 16-3-46-4, Rakesh Patel 17-6-31-5 Pawar 12-7-9-1, Pathan 11-3-34-0.
Baroda (1st innings):
C Williams batting 46
P Shah lbw Mongia 17
K Powat batting 7
Extras (b1, lb 1, nb 7, w 1) 10
Total (for one wkt, in 32 overs) 80
Fall of wkt: 1-61
Bowling: Gagandeep Singh 10-4-16-0, Hardevinder Singh 7-1-21-0, Sodhi 2-0-4-0, Uniyal 4-0-9-0, Rajesh Sharma 5-0-16-0, Mongia 3-1-12-1.
