Baltej Singh’s brilliant spell of 7/28 helped Punjab lapping Gujarat by just 97 in response to a first innings of 286 overall at Balsad on Wednesday.
Punjabi sailor Balteji Singh took seven wickets in his second day of the trophy group stage of his game against Gujarat at Balsad on Wednesday.
Baltej’s brilliant spell saw Punjab beat the home side by just 97, corresponding to a first innings of 286 overall. The lanky Sailor hit Gujarati opener Katan Patel with a six-ball duck in the first over of the inning. Baltej then sacked Priyesh Patel (12) and finished Gujarat’s in-form skipper Priyank Panchal for seven. Baltej, 32, was pushed out consistently from one end by Punjabi skipper Mandeep Singh. Baltej then hooked the rest of the center field hitters. M A Hingrajia (11), Umang Kumar (1), Karan Patel (2) and Het Patel (26) fell back to back as Baltej registered his seven wickets his hole in first class.
He ended up with numbers 16-8-28-7. It is the eighth best among Punjab bowlers in first-class cricket.
Baltej has taken seven wickets from his last three rounds and red his ball off to a decent start to his season. Punjab lost to Madhya Pradesh in the quarter-finals of last year’s 2021-22 Ranji Trophy season, but Baltej emerged as one of the tournament’s leading seamers with 18 wickets in just four matches. Baltej has also been named a reserve to the North Zone Duleep Trophy roster in September 2022.
Baltej made his first-class debut for Punjab in 2011, taking his 69 wickets in an innings of 39.
At his IPL 2022 Mega Auction last year, Baltej was home to his franchise Punjab Kings where he was bought for Rs 2 lakh. To make his IPL debut, Baltej was later acquired by the franchise on the IPL 2023 holding date in November 2022. Punjab (7 points) are currently fourth in the Elite Group D standings this season, while Gujarat are second with 14 points.