In his maiden first-class match, pacer Sagar Trivedi bagged a five-wicket haul in the first innings and scalped three more in the second to steer Puducherry to a comprehensive win against Sikkim in their Ranji Trophy match at the CAP Ground 2 in Puducherry.

The in-form Sagar Trivedi, a former Shivaji Park Lions player in T20 Mumbai, has starred for his side since September with performances that have included a four-fer and a career-best 6/50 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and another four-wicket haul against Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last month.

🏟🏏 Pondicherry defeat Sikkim by an innings and 269 runs in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2019-20.#puducherry #pondicherry #cricketassociationofpondicherry @BCCIdomestic pic.twitter.com/esWrtp4NHx

— Cricket Association of Pondicherry (@CApondicherry) December 19, 2019

In the Plate Group match that began on Tuesday, Puducherry put the visitors into bat and reaped its rewards right from the get-go. While it was Vinay Kumar who got the breakthrough in the ninth over, with the score reading just 10, it was Sagar Trivedi who then followed up after he sent back the other opener, Bibek Diyali, for 22, which remained the highest score of Sikkim's innings.

In the same over, he dismissed Ashish Thapa and Yashpal Singh in his subsequent one as Sikkim were left tottering at 31/4. He then accounted for Lee Yong Lepcha and had Mandup Bhutia caught behind to wrap up the innings for a measly 65.

Sagar Trivedi was the wrecker-in-chief with 5/20 in 8.3 overs along with Vinay Kumar, who bagged a four-wicket haul.

The hosts had the upper hand and they tightened the grip when they came out to bat with centuries from Arun Karthik and Paras Dogra cementing their advantage. Sagar Trivedi contributed with the bat as well, scoring a quickfire 40 in just 32 balls with the help of 8 fours. He forged a 71-run partnership with Fabid Ahmed for the seventh wicket in just 62 balls with Puducherry ultimately declaring at 446/8, taking a lead of a mammoth 381.

That lead proved more than enough as Sikkim crumbled under the pressure. This time, Sagar Trivedi was the first to strike in the third over when he got Faizan Khan out and then accounted for Nilesh Lamichaney in his next. When he got Yashpal Singh in the 20th over, Sikkim were 50/4 and were eventually bundled out for 112 handing Puducherry a victory by an innings and 269 runs.

In the second innings, Sagar Trivedi's figures read 3/25 in eight overs, tallying up to a match haul of 8/45 and earning him the Player of the Match award.