PKL Season 11: Haryana Steelers beat Jaipur Pink Panthers, register first win of the season
The Haryana Steelers were out of the blocks at a rapid pace and picked up a three-point lead within the first few minutes of the game.
UP Yoddha defeated league leaders Jaipur Pink Panthers 31-24 in the second match of Pro Kabaddi League at a packed Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, New Delhi on Monday.
Shrikant Jadhav (7 points) and surprise-inclusion in the team, Surender Gill (8 points), were the stars for Yoddha as they climbed to 8th in the league standings.
Both the sides started with poor defence, with no successful tackles till the 11th minute, despite having the league’s best tacklers in Sandeep Dhull and Sumit on the mat.
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However, Yoddha ended the first half with a six-point lead (17-11). The key to Jaipur Pink Panthers’ successful start to the season had been the time spent by Deepak Niwas Hooda on the mat. UP Yoddha had identified this as an important area to target in the first half, with the captain spending a lot of time in the dugout.
The second half started brightly for the all-rounder though, picking up a three-point Super Raid to start the proceedings. But he picked up an injury in the process, something UP Yoddha, heavily marshalled by captain Rishank Devadiga, went on to capitalise.
Deepak Hooda battled what looked like a troubled knee to keep his Jaipur side in the contest but the Yoddha defence held firm to register their third victory of the season.
In the match, UP Yodha earned 18 raid points in comparison to that of 14 from Pink Panthers.
Meanwhile, Haryana Steelers edged past U Mumba 30-27 in their encounter at the same venue.
Vikash Khandola was the star for the Steelers as he scored a total of 9 points — 8 raid points and one bonus. For U Mumba, Abhishek Singh scored the highest 6 points — four raid points and two bonus.
(With inputs from IANS)
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