Patna Pirates defeated the Jaipur Pink Panthers 37-30 in the final game of the evening at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi in Pune on Friday.
With the win, the Pirates extended their unbeaten streak to six. Sachin (8 points), Rohit Gulia (9 points) and all-rounder Mohammadreza ShadlouiChiyaneh (5 points) were the star performers in their victory.
In the opening stages, both teams matched each other point for point, almost every raid resulting in high-octane action. The difference was in the variety. While the Pirates' points came through the combination of Rohit Gulia and Sachin, the Pink Panthers were reliant solely on the raids of Arjun Deshwal, who scored almost all their raid points in the half as read in a statement released by Pro Kabaddi League.
The breakthrough came with about seven minutes left, Chiyaneh's tackle on Deshwal reducing Jaipur to two men and staring at an all-out.
They avoided it twice, the first a Super-Tackle by Ankush on Sachin which looked to have sparked a resurgence. Unfortunately, though the Pirates refused to let go of the stranglehold, the all-out came with Chiyaneh's tackle on Ajith Kumar as they took the lead at 15-12. Eventually, the Pirates went into the break leading 20-13.
The Pink Panthers rallied in the second half and had the Pirates in trouble within minutes. Duly, they inflicted a first all-out of their own soon after, snatching a 23-21 lead. That all out galvanised the Pirates, reminding them of Jaipur's strength on the bench.
Buoyed by Gulia and Sachin, they kept picking up points and their defence backed their raiders as well. They got their second all-out soon after, surging this time into a 32-25 lead. The Pirates kept raging on and eventually walked off the mat as winners of the match.
Mohammadreza ShadlouiChiyaneh was declared the Player of the Match for his superb performance.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor