Jaipur Pink Panthers finished their home leg unbeaten as they beat the Haryana Steelers 37-27 to extend their unbeaten streak to 10 matches in the Pro Kabaddi League on Wednesday.
The Panthers’ defence stood out with Ankush (5 points), Sunil Kumar (4 points) and Reza Mirbagheri (4 points) were the real difference between the two teams.
In the first match of the day, Gujarat Giants picked up their eighth win of the season and snapped Dabang Delhi’s winning run with a 31-26 victory. Deepak Singh was Gujarat’s best player as he finished with a High 5, while Delhi captain Ashu Malik claimed yet another Super 10.
Both Panthers and Steelers have been delivering results based on the foundation of a very strong defence and this was what kept the scoreboard ticking at the start of the game. It was a conservative raiding strategy from both teams in the first half, scoring only five points in attack, compared to the 16 points won by the Panthers defence, led by Ankush.
The home team however decided to up the ante towards the end of the first half to inflict the first all-out of the game and take a 14-8 lead. The Steelers hit back through Naveen Kundu’s tackling to go into half-time with a four-point deficit.
Both teams continued to rely on their defence to succeed in the do-or-die raids. Arjun Deshwal put the Steelers in a fix with his ability to get touch points and soon, the Panthers inflicted a second all-out to take a solid 27-16 lead in the second half.
Deshwal’s presence making a come back in the second half helped the home team to increase their lead further while their defence remained solid as ever. With the win, the Panthers are now firmly at the top of the table.
Gujarat Giants beat Dabang Delhi
Delhi began the match well with a 4-1 lead, but Gujarat’s defending saw them fight their way back. A superb multi-point raid from Parteek Dahiya also helped them to enforce the first all-out of the match in the eighth minute. After trailing by three points, Gujarat were now in the lead at 10-4.
Gujarat’s right cover Deepak came good with some clutch tackles while raider Sonu Jaglan came off the bench to cause more trouble for Delhi. The two teams entered half-time with the scoreline of 19-12 in favour of Gujarat.
Delhi took control of the momentum in the second half with raids from their captain Malik reducing Gujarat to only two players on the mat. However, super tackles from Jitendra and Deepak allowed for the gap between the two teams to open up again with Gujarat leading 27-21.
Malik continued to get raid points and reduce Gujarat to two players again, but a brilliant raid from Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh that saw him score two points sealed the deal for Gujarat.
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