In a statement of intent, the Jaipur Pink Panthers delivered a crushing 37-23 defeat over the defending champions Puneri Paltan in Match 75 of PKL 11 at the Noida Indoor Stadium on Monday.
U Mumba, on the other hand, defeated Bengaluru Bulls 34-32 to rise to the second spot, with Manjeet and Ajit Chouhan winning eight and seven points respectively.
Once again, it was Arjun Deshwal who led the charge with his 16 points as they completed the double over the Puneri Paltan in season 11.
The first 10 minutes of the match were tightly contested as both teams experienced successful and unsuccessful raids, with Akash Shinde for the Puneri Paltan and Neeraj Narwal for the Jaipur Pink Panthers making notable contributions. The lead kept changing hands frequently, with the Puneri Paltan maintaining a slight edge, but the Jaipur Pink Panthers were hot on their heels.
The talisman for the Jaipur Pink Panthers – Arjun Deshwal – took a substantial lead when he inflicted the first ALL OUT of the match on the defending champions. The skipper for the Jaipur Pink Panthers got Mohit and Satyappa Matti in a single raid, which Reza Mirbagheri then successfully tackled by stopping V. Ajith Kumar. They carried this momentum through to the very end of the first half, with the score reading 19-11.
‘Raid Machine’ Arjun Deshwal produced a moment of magic at the start of the second half to inflict a second ALL OUT on the Puneri Paltan and complete his Super 10 in the same move. After Abinesh Nadarajan fell out of the end line, Deshwal pressured Gaurav Khatri and Ajith Kumar as he went on to win five points in a single raid.
Another mistake from Abinesh Nadarajan in a Do-Or-Die Raid gifted another point to the Jaipur Pink Panthers despite a successful tackle. At this point, the match was well in favor of the two-time champions, with the Puneri Paltan needing a massive effort to come back from a 16-point deficit with 10 minutes left in the game.
Mohit Goyat was the main aggressor for Puneri Paltan, but he did not receive the support he would have expected from his teammates. Pankaj Mohite also showed glimpses of his ability, but a lack of effort from the defenders worked against the defending champions. Eventually, the Jaipur Pink Panthers went on to secure an impressive victory with a difference of 14 points between the two teams.
U Mumba clinch thrilling win
In the second match of the day, U Mumba got over the line in a close contest against Bengaluru Bulls, clinching a thrilling win with a scoreline of 34-32.
Manjeet and Ajit combined for 15 raid points to help U Mumba jump to second place on the points table. Meanwhile, U Mumba captain Sunil Kumar completed a significant milestone, equalling the record for the most wins as captain in Pro Kabaddi League history with 73 wins.
U Mumba got off the blocks quickly with Manjeet and Ajit Chouhan scoring raid points, while Sombir tackled Pardeep Narwal. With their main raider off the mat, Bengaluru Bulls found themselves with a four-point deficit in the early exchanges of the contest. U Mumba couldn’t quite make that count as they would have liked though.
With Pardeep Narwal returning to the mat, the Bengaluru Bulls came back strongly to close the gap down to two points. The tempo of the game slowed down reasonably after the first 10 minutes, as the two sides resorted to the do-or-die raid strategy. U Mumba executed the strategy wonderfully with their defence on top, once again extending their lead to five points.
Ajit Chouhan delivered a killer blow to the Bengaluru Bulls, scoring a two-point raid and inflicting an ALL OUT to extend U Mumba’s lead into double digits. A dominant performance, most notably from Ajit Chouhan and Rinku helped U Mumba champions hold onto their lead going into half-time, with the scoreline at 18-10.
Sombir got the first tackle of the second half, eliminating Pardeep Narwal and piling on the misery on Bengaluru Bulls. Manjeet followed that up with a two-point raid for U Mumba, keeping them well and truly in control in the second half as well. Defensive efforts from Arulnanthababu and Naveen kept the scoreboard ticking for the Bengaluru Bulls, but it wasn’t significant enough to help them close the gap.
Ajit Chouhan won seven points on Monday.
Rohit Raghav bagged a two-point raid for U Mumba on a Do-or-Die Raid and then went on to tackle Pardeep Narwal on a Do-or-Die Raid of his own. Despite Arulnanthababu completing his Hi-5, it seemed like U Mumba would be running away with this contest. However, there was still life in this contest as Bengaluru Bulls managed to close the gap to five points.
With a little over five minutes to go, Bengaluru Bulls were right back in the contest courtesy of a two-point raid by Pardeep Narwal, inflicting an ALL OUT on U Mumba. With only one point separating the two sides, the tension was palpable and it became a back-and-forth contest as the game came down to the wire.
The two teams were back on level terms with under four minutes to go in the contest. Bengaluru Bulls soon got their first lead of the night as Sushil carried on his impressive raiding run on a Do-or-Die Raid, and Nitin Rawal tackled Rohit Raghav. With the game turned on its head, it was advantage Bengaluru Bulls with under a minute to go in the game.
However, there was still enough time for a twist in the tale. Manjeet executed a Super Tackle on Sushil, who was on a Do-or-Die Raid, putting U Mumba ahead by one point. Manjeet once again came in clutch on a Do-or-Die Raid of his own, putting some daylight between the two sides. He went on to get the job done for U Mumba with a successful final raid to help his side clinch a 34-32 win.
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