Haryana Steelers put up a splendid all-around display to earn a gritty 31-29 victory over Gujarat Giants in their 2023-24 Pro Kabaddi League match on Tuesday.
In the process, the Steelers became the first team in this season to register four consecutive wins.
The Steelers got off the blocks well and quickly climbed to a 5-1 lead as the Giants fought back through a Fazel Atrachali super tackle and a clever toe touch from Rohit Gulia.
The two teams remained neck and neck for most of the opening half and the Steelers took a sizeable lead when Mohit Nandal pinned Parteek Dahiya and brought up his high five.
There was more trouble in store for the Giants as Vinay got the all-important all out in the 19th minute and the Steelers went into the interval leading 17-10.
The Giants managed only five raid points in the first half, while the Steelers’ right cover Mohit single-handedly picked up five tackle points.
Giants coach Ram Mehar Singh’s half-time chat seemed to have made the difference as his men came out all guns blazing in the second half. Gulia produced an incredible super raid to reduce the Giants’ deficit to four points at 15-19 and a superb tackle from Mohammad Nabibakhsh saw the men in orange bag an all out and inch closer.
The Giants scored 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, compared to the Steelers’ three.
Sonu Jaglan came off the bench and got the Giants on level terms with a massive back-kick to make it 24-24 with seven minutes left on the clock. It was still anybody’s game, but the Steelers handled the pressure situations better to grab the win.
Ashish, who had a quiet evening, got his first point when it mattered the most as he trapped Sonu in an ankle hold with exactly a minute left on the clock and Vinay followed it up with a solid two-point raid to extend the Steelers’ unbeaten streak.