BENGALURU, Jan 30: Arjun Deshwal was the star for Jaipur Pink Panthers as they thrashed Patna Pirates 51-30 in a Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 match here on Sunday.
Patna went into the match as favourites, but the Panthers turned the tables for a commanding win.
Their star raider Arjun Deshwal scored 17 points and was ably backed up by Deepak Hooda with eight points. Defenders Sandeep Dhull and Vishal also picked up High 5s in a bullish win that exposed the chinks in Patna’s armour.
The three-time champions had a terrible day in defence with their cover defenders Sajin C and Neeraj Kumar picking up no points in the entire match.
Jaipur dominated the first half despite going into the match as the underdogs. They dominated the proceedings right from the whistle with aggressive defending and clever raiding.
Hooda’s return to the raiding department gave Arjun Deshwal more confidence and he picked up easy points from the Patna defence in the early minutes.
Jaipur’s defenders Vishal and Sandeep Dhull were also in the mood to not let Patna grow confident.
The men in pink got their first ALL OUT in the eighth minute to open a healthy 9-point lead. Arjun Deshwal enticed errors from the Patna defenders and raced to his Super 10. Substitute Guman Singh fought valiantly for Patna but his raids could not prevent another ALL OUT with 3 minutes remaining.
Jaipur continued their domination of the mat after the interval with Arjun Deshwal picking up easy points off a confused Patna defence.
His 2-point raid in the seventh minute after the break gave Jaipur another ALL OUT to increase the lead to 19-points. The Jaipur defence was having a night to remember as well with Sandeep Dhull hitting his High 5.
Sachin and Guman Singh kept trying their best to bring Patna back into the match, but their defenders continued to leak easy points.
Jaipur had a 20-point lead with five minutes remaining and even Guman Singh’s Super 10 wasn’t enough to save Patna. Vishal also picked up a High 5 as the Jaipur defenders ensured there are no slip-ups to win the match.
In another contest, Tamil Thalaivas thrashed Bengaluru Bulls 42-24 in a one-sided match.
The second match of Season 8’s Rivalry Week turned out to be a mauling as Tamil Thalaivas dominated the mat to win the prestigious Southern Derby.
Ajinkya Pawar scored a Super 10 for the Tamil team and was supported well by his raiding partner Manjeet with 8 points. Their defenders had a great night too with Sagar picking up a High 5 to ensure Bulls’ captain Pawan Sehrawat ended the match without a Super 10. (PTI)
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