PKL: Arjun Deshwal stars in Jaipur Pink Panthers' win over Haryana Steelers
Bengaluru: Jaipur Pink Panthers rode on a brilliant performance from raider Arjun Deshwal to earn their second win of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 9 in the second game of Friday, as they went past Haryana Steelers with a 44-31 victory at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, here.
Deshwal, who was in top form, earned 14 points to win, while Rahul Chaudhari and Sunil Kumar also made useful contributions for Jaipur.
Rahul Chaudhari began the match on a high for Jaipur Pink Panthers, as he not only earned two raid points but also eliminated the dangerous Manjeet in the first raid. But a minute later, Mohit caught Rahul to bring parity in the match.
When Arjun Deshwal earned another raid point, eliminating Nitin Rawal, Jaipur extended their lead to 6-2, putting the Steelers on the backfoot.
At the halfway mark in the first half, Arjun earned a SUPER RAID, but Jaideep and Mohit combo inflicted a SUPER TACKLE and got the Jaipur raider out to level the playing field once again.
A few minutes later, Ankush and Sahul combined to inflict a SUPER TACKLE on Meetu, and Jaipur took the lead again. Jaipur Pink Panthers inflicted an ALL-OUT on the Steelers and went into halftime with a solid lead at 20-12.
Manjeet was caught by Sunil in the first raid of the second half and the gap between the teams continued to increase. With a strong lead, Jaipur Pink Panthers strategically started playing safely, attacking only on DO-OR-DIE raids. But Arjun continued his good show, eliminating Mohit on a DO-OR-DIE raid, extending the lead to 23-14.
Jaipur Pink Panthers inflicted another ALL OUT on Haryana Steelers, further extending their lead. Arjun continued to pick up raid points for his team as the clock kept ticking.
The Steelers' defence couldn't find a way to tackle the threat posed by the Jaipur raider. On the other end, defenders Sahul and Ankush performed consistently as they did not allow the Steelers to get back into the game with raid points.
With a handsome lead, the Jaipur Pink Panthers started testing their bench strength, but Haryana Steelers were unable to cover the deficit as the Panthers picked up a big victory.
