The Jaipur Pink Panthers saw off a resolute Puneri Paltan in match 39 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) to register just their third win of the season with a score of 31-26. Despite an inspired comeback at the tail end of the first half, the poor run continued for the team from Maharashtra and have now lost a league high five matches this season. Arjun Deshwal was the star performer of the match as pocketed 11 points in the match for the Panthers.
Paltans make storming comeback in the first half
The Panthers made a great start to the game thanks to the exploits of Deshwal who smashed eight points in the first half. Courtesy of him the Panthers had a lead of seven points with a score of 16-9. Deshwal was also smart to pick four bonus points.
The Paltans though came back with vengeance as Inamdar and Pankaj Mohite showed good defensive showing coupled with raiding opportunities. The former ended with four while Mohite brought three points in the first half to cut Panthers lead to just one point as they scored an all-out in the dying moments of the first half to take the half-time score to 18-17, as the Paltans trailed by just one point.
Slow start to the second half from both sides
Both teams were reluctant to give away points in the second half as both Paltans and Panthers lead for a few seconds. Deshwal on the other hand was determined to score a ‘Super 10’ as he was the man to watch out for. Substitute Deepak Hooda also contributed for the Panthers with three points. The scoreboard kept on floating as the Panthers led 23-20 with 10 minutes to go.
Paltans lose concentration in the final five minutes
Sandeep Dhull and Sahul Kumar turned the screw in the final five minutes as they picked eight points in between them to record an all-out with less than five minutes to go. The all-out resulted in the Panthers leading 30-24 and with a successful review in the penultimate minute, as the scoreboard read 31-24. The Paltans though managed to get a point in the final minute, as they made sure they didn’t walk away empty-handed. Inamdar was the highest scorer for Paltans with six points, but could only steer his team to a single point.
The win for the Panthers means they go seventh in the table, ending a three-match losing streak. They now have 18 points from seven games and have so far registered three wins and four losses. For Paltans the standings make no good reading as they languish second from bottom with just 11 points in seven games, having lost five already. They next take on defending champions Bengal Warriors on Sunday (January 9) while the Panthers are in action on Monday (January 10) against high-flying Dabang Delhi.
