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Pro Kabaddi League 2018 action carried on at the Motilal Nehru School of Sport Indoor Stadium in Sonepat, Haryana on Sunday as the second leg of the competition entered its third day of the action. The home side Haryana Steelers battled it out against the Puneri Paltan in the second match of the day.
Earlier in the evening, the defending champions Patna Pirates emerged victorious over the UP Yoddha in a raiders battle, with Shrikant Jadhav and Pardeep Narwal scoring Super 10s for the teams.
Both the teams Haryana Steelers and Puneri Paltan came into the match on the back of losses and hoped to get back to winning ways. Haryana Steelers were outclassed by U Mumba on Saturday night whereas Puneri Paltan lost out in a close encounter with the Dabang Delhi Kabaddi Club.
Haryana Steelers were led by their star man Monu Goyat in their last match and, despite decent raiding performances by him and fellow raider Vikas Khanolda, the defence was not up to the mark against the U Mumba side. The absence of Surender Nada was felt but the likes of Kuldeep Singh and Sachin Shingade hoped to make up with their stability on the mat.
Puneri Paltan lost against the Dabang Delhi KC franchise but their main man Nitin Tomar was in devastating form as he scored 20 points and was almost unplayable. The defence, manned by their captain Girish Maruti Ernak and Sandeep Narwal, hoped to contain the duo of Goyat and Khandola on the night. Sunday saw the return of Rajesh Mondal and Akshay Jadhav to the starting lineup.
Puneri Paltan produced a strong defensive performance as they won 45-27 over the home side Haryana Steelers. Akshay Jadhav and Girish Maruti Ernak were the best performing defenders for the side and Nitin Tomar led the raiding charts for them.
Haryana Steelers lost their second match in a row as their defence struggled on the mat. Monu Goyat and Vikas Khandola did well with their raiding, with the latter scoring a Super 10.
Here are the player ratings for the Haryana Steelers vs Puneri Paltan clash:
Haryana Steelers
Monu Goyat - (7.5/10)
The Haryana Steelers captain recovered from his poor showing against U Mumba and looked solid on the mat on Sunday night. He finished with 8 raid points and will hope to lead the side to better results as the season progresses.
Vikas Khandola - (8.5/10)
The diminutive raider had a good return of points as he kept the Puneri Paltan defence occupied with his swift raiding. He managed to get a Super 10 to his name as he was effective on the mat, picking up good bonus points.
Naveen Kumar - (3/10)
The all-rounder had a tough night as he was unsuccessful with his raiding attempts, managing just one bonus point and conceded a lot of points in the defence with his mistimed tackles.
Kuldeep Singh - (3/10)
The left corner defender picked up just one tackle point as he struggled to deal with the Puneri Paltan raiders. He will hope to get back to his form as the Sonepat leg continues.
Sachin Shingade - (3/10)
The former Patna Pirates man played in the cover position and had a tough time dealing with Nitin Tomar even though he did manage to catch him once with a double thigh hold.
Sunil - (3/10)
The right corner defender got a great ankle hold on the dangerous Nitin Tomar but was also hasty in going for tackles and was tagged on more than a couple of occasions.
Mayur Shivtarkar - (2/10)
The all-rounder had a quiet match in the defensive side of things on the mat. He was unable to score a single point and will hope to recover quickly and get back to form.
Substitutes:
Anand Tomar - (2/10)
The all-rounder came on as a substitute for some amount of time when the two lead raiders were tackled out
Arun Kumar HN - (3/10)
The substitute came on as the last man on the mat and managed to get a raid point, getting Sandeep Narwal out.
Puneri Paltan
Nitin Tomar - (8/10)
Nitin Tomar just missed out on his Super 10 on Sunday night as he grabbed nine raid points and even got one tackle point. He led the raiding contingent for the Paltan and used his agility well to outfox the Steelers' defence.
GB More - (7/10)
The lanky all-rounder contributed both in attack and defence for Pune as he scored a couple of points in both the departments.
Akshay Jadhav - (8.5/10)
The left corner defender for the Paltan was extremely confident in his ankle holds in the defence. He scored a High 5 with six tackle points and even managed to garner two raid points on the night.
Rajesh Mondal - (6.5/10)
The clinical raider made an impact after starting the match and was incredible in the do-or-die situations. He scored seven raid points for the team which included two do-or-die points.
Ravi Kumar - (5/10)
The defender did not get a tackle point to his credit but was good with his assists for the large number of tackle points scored by the Puneri Paltan defenders.
Sandeep Narwal - (5/10)
The hot-headed corner defender managed to score a couple of tackle points at the right corner but will hope to keep his temperament as he was yellow carded on Sunday night.
Girish Maruti Ernak - (8/10)
The Puneri Paltan captain was impressive despite playing in a different position than his usual left corner. He managed to score a High 5 as he executed strong dashes from the cover position.
