PKL: Defenders take centre stage as Jaipur Pink Panthers, U Mumba play out second tie of the day
Pune: It was truly a night to remember at the Balewadi Sports Complex, as the defenders ran the show for both the Jaipur Pink Panthers and the U Mumba, in what was a very tightly fought tie of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 11, here on Thursday.
The two teams ended the game with the scores on 22-22. For U Mumba, Sombir bagged 7 points and Rohit Raghav finished with 4 of his own. On the other hand, the Jaipur Pink Panthers’ Reza Mirbagheri scored 6 points while Ronak Singh added 4 and Ankush Rathee picked up 3.
The U Mumba made a solid start to the game, as they picked up an early 3-point lead. However, both sides had also begun cautiously, which meant points were tough to come by in the early exchanges. The comeback from the Jaipur Pink Panthers was quite quick though courtesy Neeraj Narwal and Surjeet Singh.
As the half wore on, the U Mumba did well to keep the Jaipur Pink Panthers at bay, especially the dangerous Arjun Deshwal. Ten minutes into the game, the U Mumba led by 2 points with the score at 6-4 in their favour. Both sets of defenders were working brilliantly, and making it very tough for the raiders on the night. The likes of Neeraj Narwal and Ajit Chouhan were getting thwarted on their raids, while the defenders were leading the scoring charts for their respective sides. Before the first fifteen minutes of the game, Sombir had registered his High-5 for the U Mumba, who continued to lead. At the half-time break, U Mumba led 12-8.
Early in the second half, Ronak Singh’s Super Tackle helped the Jaipur Pink Panthers level scores with the U Mumba. And after that Shrikant Jadhav put the Season 10 champions in the lead, in what was turning out to be a well-fought contest.
U Mumba though got their noses out in front soon after that, and went into the final 10 minutes of the game with the momentum on their side. In the final phase of play, the Jaipur Pink Panthers needed Arjun Deshwal to step up and U Mumba turned towards the young Ajit Chouhan for inspiration. However, both sets of defenders weren’t on the same page.
With about three minutes to go, Reza Mirbagheri landed a Super Tackle on Ajit Chouhan, and also got to his High-5, to bring Jaipur Pink Panthers back on level terms. Eventually, both teams had to settle for the draw.