The Jaipur Pink Panthers and the UP Yoddhas secured big wins in their respective Pro Kabaddi League matches at the GMCB Indoor Stadium Gachibowli, in Hyderabad, on Tuesday.
Pink Panthers’ captain Arjun Deshwal put in a superb performance and led by example, scoring 19 points in the match, as they beat the Telugu Titans 52-22. This was the Jaipur Pink Panthers’ second consecutive win.
Titans skipper Pawan Sehrawat and Arjun Deshwal were the first ones to get on the scoreboard. After that, both teams followed their captains’ lead and continued to trade points through the first phase of the first half.
It started as a close battle, and much to the joy of the Hyderabad crowd, after the first ten minutes, the Telugu Titans led by two points, with the skipper doing most of the heavy lifting.
Deshwal was matching his opposite number point for point as the half wore on, but the Titans found a way to keep their noses out in front.
Titans’ Vijay Malik and Ashish Narwal were giving Pawan Sehrawat very good support, before Abhijeet Malik’s Super Raid put the Pink Panthers in the box seat. Right after, Deshwal inflicted an all out on the Titans, and the Pink Panthers went onto end the first half with the scoreline at 18-13 in their favour.
The second half saw both sides take a cautious approach at the beginning. The Titans were looking to reduce the deficit, while the Pink Panthers had their eyes on extending the lead. Deshwal was in fine form and had completed his Super 10 as well.
Reza Mirbagheri inflicted an all out on the Telugu Titans midway through the second half which further extended his team’s lead. With just under 10 minutes to go in the game, the ]Pink Panthers led by 16 points, and were in control of proceedings.
As the game moved into the final phase, defender Ankush Rathee thwarted any hopes of a comeback when he inflicted an all out on the Titans. After that, Lucky Sharma followed suit with another all out on the Titans. Eventually, the Pink Panthers came away with a massive 30-point win.
Yoddhas thump Bulls
Surender Gill, Bharat and Sumit put in a fantastic performance as the UP Yoddhas cranked up the style and defeated the Bengaluru Bulls 57-36. A total of 93 points were scored in the game, with Gill getting 17 for the Yoddhas and Pardeep Narwal bagging 16 for the Bulls.
It was a quick start to the contest from both the teams. While both teams picked points of each other in the early exchanges, it was the Yoddhas who settled into a rhythm within the first few minutes of the game.
Bharat and Gill were leading the charge for the Yoddhas, who stormed into the lead, and finished the first phase of play with a nine-point lead. By now, Bharat was on seven points and leading from the front for the Yoddhas.
From then on in, the Yoddhas continued to consolidate with Bharat and captain Gill causing the most amount of trouble for the Bulls. Bharat also inflicted an all out on the Bulls which further strengthened their position in the game.
By the time the half-time break came around, Bharat and Gill had both completed their individual Super 10s, and the UP Yoddhas led the contest 33-15.
After the break, Narwal landed a super raid for the Bulls, but the Yoddhas continued to dominate the contest. Gill was leading from the front and his side were showing no signs of taking their foot off the throttle. Midway through the second half, the UP Yoddhas were leading the contest with a scoreline of 44-25.
With just under 10 minutes to go Narwal completed his Super 10, after which Sumit inflicted an all out on the Bulls. The UP Yoddhas notched up their half-century and registered the highest points scored in a single match by a team, so far, this season.
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