Punjab moved closer to victory as pacer V R V Singh wrecked Orissa with a five-wicket haul on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Super League Group 'B' match in Mohali on Wednesday.

Five Orissa batsmen failed to open their account in the second innings as the visitors were bundled out for only 76. V R V claimed five wickets for 25 runs. He received good support from Gagandeep singh, who had figures of 3 for 25.

Needing 175 for victory, Punjab were 117 for 2 in their second innings at the draw of stumps.

Resuming at the overnight total of 207 for 8, Punjab were all out for 225 in their second innings, conceding a healthy 98-run lead to the visiting team.

While Gagandeep Singh was not out on 29, his partner Siddharth Kaul became Basanth Mohanty's fifth victim.

With a decent lead under their belt, Orissa were in the driver's seat and needed to bat patiently. Openers S S Das (45) and Bikash Pati (15) provided a good start before being dismissed by Gagandeep. Thereafter the Orissa innings crumbled, nome of the later batsmen being able to score more than six runs.

Scorecard

Orissa (1st innings):
B Pati b Gagandeep Singh 13
S Das b S Kaul 19
N Behera lbw b Gagandeep Singh 13
R Parida c Sohal b Goel 52
R Das c U Kaul b S Kaul 0
P Jayachandra b S Kaul 36
H Das c U Kaul b S Kaul 100
D Mohanty lbw b Gagandeep Singh 12
S Sehgal c Sohal b S Kaul 5
B Mohanty not out 18
Preetamjit Das c U Kaul b Gagandeep Singh 27
Extras: (b 10, lb 6, nb 12) 28
Total: 323

Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-48, 3-50, 4-50, 5-121, 6-189, 7-267, 8-273, 9-278, 10-323.

Bowling: Gagandeep Singh 22-3-65-4 (1nb), VRV Singh 15-1-68-0 (6nb), S Kaul 23-6-79-5 (3nb), R Inder 5-1-11-0, A Kakkar 13-2-40-0 (2nb), Charanjit Singh 12-2-28-0, K Goel 3-0-16-1.

Punjab (1st innings):
S Sohal c H Das b B Mohanty 22
K Goel run out (Pati) 20
R Inder c H Das b B Mohanty 0
P Dharmani lbw b DS Mohanty 22
U Kaul lbw b DS Mohanty 10
R Ricky b Preetamjit Das 21
A Kakkar c Parida b B Mohanty 53
Gagandeep Singh not out 29
Charanjit Singh c Behera b B Mohanty 0
S Kaul lbw b B Mohanty 6
VRV Singh c H Das b D Mohanty 5
Extras: (b 4, lb 9, w 2, nb 22) 37.
Total: 225

Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-46, 3-59, 4-84, 5-91, 6-146, 7-188, 8-193, 9-218, 10-225.

Bowling: D Mohanty 25-4-74-3 (3nb), Preetamjit Das 16-6-40-1 (7nb), B Mohanty 17-4-48-5 (9nb), P Jayachandra 15-6-35-0 (3nb, 2w), S Sehgal 3-0-15-0.

Orissa (2nd innings):
B Pati c U Kaul b Gagandeep Singh 15
S Das b Gagandeep Singh 45
N Behera c U Kaul b Gagandeep Singh 1
R Parida lbw b Singh 0
R Das lbw b Singh 0
S Sehgal b Singh 0
P Jayachandra b Singh 0
H Das c Dharmani b Singh 4
D Mohanty lbw b Kakkar 6
B Mohanty lbw b Kakkar 0
Preetamjit Das not out 0
Extras: (b 1, lb 1, nb 3) 5
Total: 76

Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-26, 3-27, 4-27, 5-27, 6-28, 7-33, 8-74, 9-74, 10-76.

Bowling: Gagandeep Singh 14.4-5-25-3, S Kaul 7-1-18-0, VRV Singh 10-1-25-5 (3nb), A Kakkar 3-1-6-2.

Punjab (2nd innings) (target: 175 runs):
S Sohal c B Mohanty b DS Mohanty 44
K Goel c Sehgal b Preetamjit Das 6
R Inder not out 47
P Dharmani not out 8
Extras: (lb 4, nb 8) 12     
Total: (2 wickets; 38 overs) 117

To bat: U Kaul, RS Ricky, A Kakkar, Gagandeep Singh, Charanjit Singh, VRV Singh, S Kaul 

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-84.

Bowling: D Mohanty 9-3-13-1, Preetamjit Das 10-1-37-1, B Mohanty 11-1-37-0 (8nb), S Sehgal 5-0-20-0, P Jayachandra 1-0-2-0, N Behera 2-0-4-0.