Photo: BCCI/HotstarPunjab captain Mandeep Singh scored his second straight ton in the Ranji Trophy and this time he made it a double century to put Hyderabad firmly on the backfoot in their Elite Group A fixture at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium in Patiala.
Electing to bat first, Hyderabad could only manage 242 handing the home team the edge. Punjab, however, were 23/3 in their response and looked to squander the advantage before Mandeep Singh, who turned 28 on Wednesday, teamed up with Anmolpreet Singh to forge an 82-run partnership.
After stabilizing the innings, Mandeep Singh, who plays for Kings XI Punjab in the VIVO Indian Premier League, then put up a 64-run stand with Sharad Lumba for the fifth wicket and kept the scoreboard ticking, raising his fifty in 110 balls with a boundary towards backward point off Mehdi Hasan.
The next partnership produced 174 runs in just 218 balls with Anmol Malhotra's 80 (112b), a record for the sixth wicket for the Punjab cricket team. It was the pair's second successive century stand following the 143-run partnership in their season's opener against Rajasthan, where Mandeep Singh scored a hundred.
He took 180 balls to reach his ton against Hyderabad and 297 deliveries for his double century. The unbeaten 101-run stand for the seventh wicket with Karan Kaila took just 122 balls as Punjab accelerated their innings before declaring on 443/6, taking a lead of 201.
Recording his career's 13th ton and third double century, Mandeep Singh scored 204* in 301 balls hitting 22 fours and 3 sixes.
Hyderabad fell for a paltry 76 in the second innings thanks to Mayank Markande's five-wicket haul, handing Punjab an innings and 25-run victory.
