Arshdeep Singh stars with stunning 5-fer as Punjab defeat Sikkim by 10 wickets in VHT

Punjab continued their superb form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy by defeating Sikkim comprehensively in the fifth round. It p[roved to be quite a one-sided game as after bundling out the opposition for a  modest total, Punjab chased down the target in just 38 deliveries and without losing any wicket.

Sikkim batters struggle from the get-go

After being invited to bat first, Sikkim suffered a woeful start as pacer Sukhdeep Bajwa bowled a fiery opening over and got the wickets of both Amit Rajera and Ashish Thapa. The side had only started to barely recover from the two opening blows when Arshdeep Singh joined the party and got the wicket of Pranesh Chhetri in the fifth over.

The left-arm seamer didn't stop there and got the wicket of Kranthi Kumar in the very next over as Sikkim went down to 25/4. Palzor Tamang became Arshdeep's next victim on the final delivery of the 11th over and half of Sikkim's batters were now back in the pavilion.

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The side were in desperate need of a partnership but unfortunately none of their batters managed to even cross the 20-run mark and kept on losing their wickets on regular intervals. Arshdeep went on to dismiss both Lee Yong Lepcha and Ankur Malik cheaply for 0 and 2 respectively while Mayank Markande clinched the final two wickets of Sikkim's innings as they got bowled out for just 75 runs in 22.2 overs. Arshdeep was easily Punjab's pick of the bowlers, recording figures of 5/34 while both Sukhdeep and Markande chipped in with two each.

Prabhsimran leads Punjab to victory

In reply, Punjab got off to a great start thanks to the opening pair of Harnoor Singh and Prabhsimran Singh. The duo smacked the opposing bowlers all around the stadium and formed a strong partnership. The match would come to an end after just 38 deliveries as Prabhsimran played a valiant knock of 53 while Harnoor remained unbeaten on 22 as Punjab chased down the 76-run target quite comfortably.

The 10-wicket victory means that Punjab has now won  four out of their five games in the Vijay Hazare Trophy  and are now level on points with Mumbai, who are currently on top of Elite Group C with 16 points. Prabhsimran Singh & Co. will be looking to maintain their stellar form in their next fixture that will be against Goa on January 6. On the other hand, Sikkim have now lost five games in a row in the tournament and will be aiming to bounce back in their next game that will be against Uttarakhand.