Jaipur Pink Panthers were handed their second home defeat in three matches, this time a 17-34 loss at the hands of Bengal Warriors. Two all outs were inflicted on the Pink Panthers by the visitors as they romped to a dominant win and in the process, closed the gap on top-placed Patna Pirates. In a strong defensive display by the Warriors, Nilesh Shinde scored 5 tackle points while Girish Maruti Ernak and Bajirao Hodage contributed with 4 each at the back.
You can catch the highlights of the match, presented by hotstar, below:
Jang Kun Lee, who scored 6 points in the match, started the proceedings with two points in his raid and the Warriors kept their lead till the end as they doomed Jaipur to their 6th loss of the campaign. In the 5th minute, Girish Maruti Ernak stopped Kuldeep Singh in his tracks to make it 4-1 in favour of the visitors.
The closest Jaipur came in terms of the score was in the 13th minute when Sonu Narwal made it a 1-point game as the home team trailed the Warriors 5-6. Umesh Mhatre and Mahesh Goud ensured that the visitors extended their lead and made it 11-7 as the buzzer sounded for half time.
HT: Jaipur Pink Panthers 7-11 Bengal Warriors
Bengal Warriors coach Pratap Shetty would be pleased with the performance of his team as the second half turned out to be a massacre of sorts for the home team. With just 3 men left on the court, it was a matter of time before the Pink Panthers suffered an all out. In the 26th minute, Lee did the needful to make it a 9-point game (8-17) after a run of 5 consecutive points.
Both the teams exchanged blows till the 30th minute, as the visitors kept the home team at bay. It didn’t take long for the Warriors to roar back and reduce the home team to just 3 men on the court. However, Shyam Kumar Sah, gave away a super tackle and Abhishek Bachchan’s team eyed a surprise comeback in the game.
Bajirao Hodage, Nilesh Shinde and Ernak ensured that the home crowd had nothing to cheer when they held the fort at the back and tackled youngster C. Arun to complete a second all out in the game 1 minute from time. Shyam Sah atoned for his earlier mistake and conjured up 4 points in the buzzer raid to close the match out at 34-17 in favour of the visitors.
FT: Jaipur Pink Panthers 17-34 Bengal Warriors
You can catch the preview of the final day of the Jaipur leg, presented by hotstar, below:
