The Jaipur Pink Panthers beat Puneri Paltan 33-27 and moved to the top of the table after ten rounds of matches of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 4.
Match thirty-eight was a top of the table clash. Second-placed Jaipur Pink Panthers were up against Puneri Paltan who are hot on the heels of Jasvir and company. Only three points separated both the sides as they went into this battle.
Jasvir Singh looked lively after recovering from his injury. But it was Pune who opened the scoring, tackling Shabeer Bapu. Manjeet’s mini battle with Jasvir was an intriguing one. It was the former who was coming out on top in the initial moments.
Rajesh Narwal then took out Pune captain, Manjeet with a sublime hand touch. He came back immediately to take out Deepak Hooda in a similar fashion. Jaipur were now leading 4-3 after seven minutes.
The Panthers were eyeing Ajay Thakur like hawks, not giving the raider an inch to play with. Faced with a do or die raid, Joginder Narwal’s weak tackle gave Jasvir an easy raid point. Pune were now down to three.
But Ajay Thakur finally came to life with two crucial raid points. The score was 6-5 to Pune after 11 minutes. Jasvir then went head to head with Manjeet Chhillar during his raid and this time it was the Panthers man who bulldozed his way past his friend. The Jaipur captain immediately took out two more men to reduce Pune to just one man.
The Paltan suffered their first all out after thirteen minutes as Jaipur led 12-7. The Panthers were now on a 7-1 run and their confidence was sky high. Their defence was peaking at just the right time.
HT- Puneri Paltan 9 - Jaipur Pink Panthers 17
Deepak Hooda began the second half with an empty raid. He was kept extremely quiet scoring only once in his eight raids so far. Special mention to Jaipur’s, Amit Hooda who was impenetrable at the right corner.
Some poor defending by Pune further extended Jaipur’s lead to ten points. Manjeet Chhillar was livid with the tactics employed by the opposition. Every time Pune scored a raid point, before they were ready, a Jaipur raider entered the Pune half to pick up a point.
The Paltan suffered their second all out within five minutes of the second half. Jaipur were now leading 25-14. They slowed down the game considerably at this point. Ajay Kumar was excellent with his do or die raids for Jaipur.
But Ajay Thakur was intent on making a comeback. He scored two quick points with a stellar raid and the deficit was now down to just seven with eight minutes to go. Jaipur were down to four men. They played the final seven minutes entirely on the do or die raid. Jasvir and company were in no mood for risks as the stakes were just too high.
They held on for a memorable victory. Their sixth of the season.
FT- Puneri Paltan 27 - Jaipur Pink Panthers 33
