Jaipur Pink Panthers produced a combative performance to beat Puneri Paltan 30-28 in the Pro Kabaddi League in Nagpur on Friday. Manjeet Chhillar scored nine points and was a rock for Jaipur as Pune suffered their first defeat of the league, reported PTI.
Both teams opened their account in the first minute as Tushar Patil and Deepak Hooda made successful raids. Puneri Paltan led 3-1 in the third minute as their defence scored the first tackle point of the match.
Puneri Paltan extended their lead to 5-2 in the fifth minute as they scored two more tackle points. Girish Ernak and Sandeep Narwal commanded the Pune defence strongly in the early part of the match as they led 6-3 after seven minutes. Tushar Patil scored his second point as Jaipur Pink Panthers trailed 4-6 after eight minutes.
Rohit Kumar was shown a green card in the ninth minute as Jaipur Pink Panthers tied the match at 6-6. It looked like Pune would run away with the match as they led 9-6 after 13 minutes but Jaipur came back strongly to level the game at 9-9 after 15 minutes.
Santhapanaselvam scored three tackle points for Jaipur as they ended the first half leading 14-11. The second half began with Jaipur Pink Panthers inflicting the first all out of the match to lead 17-11. Jaipur extended their lead to 29-11 as Pune looked out of sorts. Two successful raids in a minute reduced the deficit to 13-20 for Puneri Paltan.
Jasvir Singh scored his fifth raid point in 24th minute as Jaipur led 22-14. Rajesh Mondal scored his first raid point in the 27th minute as Puneri Paltan trailed 15-23. A terrific super raid by Sandeep Narwal in the 28th minute reduced the lead to 5 points as Pune trailed 18-23.
Just when it seemed like Pune were making a comeback, Jaipur scored three points in a row to lead 27-19 after 33 minutes. Manjeet Chhillar came up with a super tackle and achieved a high five.
Thalaivas hold off Bulls
Despite a terrific display from Bengaluru Bulls’ Rohit Kumar, Tamil Thalaivas were in terrific form on the night to register their first ever win in the Pro Kabaddi League, winning 29-24. K Prapanjan scored six raid points while Amit Hooda picked up four for the team playing their first campaign.
The Thalaivas took a substantial lead early into the second half, after inflict an all-out over their opponents. The Bulls were unable to get back into the game but launched a fine raiding spell in the dying minutes of the game to keep the Thalaivas on their toes. Despite the win, the Bulls remain at top spot in the table with seven points from three games in group B. Thalaivas are the bottom with seven points.
