PKL 9: Gujarat Giants stunned Puneri Paltan, Haryana Steelers picked up an important win

PKL 9 Match 108: Gujarat Giants vs Puneri Paltan

Parteek Dahiya's brilliant raiding powered the Gujarat Giants to a 51-39 victory over the high-flying Puneri Paltan in PKL 9 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday. The Giants victory broke a five-match winning streak for the Paltan. 

A blistering start by the Paltan saw them race into an early lead, with the Giants finding it tough on the mat. However, it all changed within moments as captain Chandran Ranjit caught out Aslam Inamdar and Sanket Sawant to bring the Giants back into the game. Despite the resurgence, it was the Paltan who inflicted the first ALL OUT of the game, to take a 15-8 lead. 

The All Out galvanised the Giants, Ranjit and Parteek Dahiya combining to not just engineer a comeback but also get the Giants an ALL OUT of their own, to make it a one-point game. From there, the match ebbed and flowed with both teams trading points constantly. The teams went into the break with Paltan leading 22-21.

The Giants, however, roared out of the blocks in the second half, Dahiya in particular was devastating on almost every raid he went for. They inflicted a second ALL OUT on the Paltan to take the lead for the first time in the game at 31-25. The Giants kept the pressure up with Dahiya in particular on a streak that was destroying Pune at regular intervals. A second ALL OUT followed as the Giants extended into a 44-32 lead. They never let it slip, registering a morale-boosting and momentous win. For the Giants, it was Dahiya who starred yet again with a tally of 19 points and was the driving force for his side.  

PKL 9 Match 109: Haryana Steelers vs U Mumba

Haryana Steelers picked up a thrilling 35-33 win over U Mumba in the vivo Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 9 match at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad on Tuesday. In the low-scoring encounter, defender Mohit was the top performer for Steelers, earning 7 tackle points. But it was Manjeet who shifted the tide in his team's favour with a late super raid, as Steelers picked up their second win in a row. Manjeet and Mohit both scored 7 points each for the Haryana Steelers. 

The match started with Meetu earning a sensational four-point SUPER RAID for Haryana Steelers to give his side an early lead. Guman earned a point back for U Mumba with a successful raid, and then Mumbai defense caught hold of Meetu to level the scoreline at 6-6. Steelers earned a slender one-point lead as Mohit took out Ashish with a strong tackle.

Mohit's good form in defense continued in the first half, as he maintained a 100 percent strike rate on tackles to keep Haryana in the lead. Mumbai's Mohit made a defensive error as he stepped out of bounds to give away an easy point to Steelers. But he made up for his mistake by catching Meetu with an ankle hold in the dying seconds of the first half and U Mumba entered halftime with a 13-12 lead. 

The second half started with Ashish getting a raid point to get U Mumba a two-point lead. But Rakesh Narwal earned a two-point SUPER RAID to cover the deficit for Haryana Steelers. The tide shifted in Mumbai's favours when Jai Bhagwan earned a three-point SUPER RAID to break the threshold and Mumbai inflicted an ALL OUT on Steelers to take 22-17 lead.

With 10 minutes left in the match, Manjeet managed to get a running hand touch on Guman to get a point back for Haryana. He turned the match on its head once again with a two-point SUPER RAID after which Steelers inflicted an ALL OUT on U Mumba to take 31-28 lead. With Mohit and Jaideep getting tackle points late in the match, Haryana Steelers managed to get a thrilling 35-33 comeback win in PKL 9.

Match 1: Puneri Paltan vs Gujarat Giants  

vivo Perfect Player of the Match – Prateek Dahiya (Gujarat Giants) 

Dream 11 Gamechanger of the Match – Arkam Shaikh (Gujarat Giants)  

Moment of the Match - Prateek Dahiya (Gujarat Giants) 

Match 2: Haryana Steelers vs U Mumba  

vivo Perfect Player of the Match – Mohit (Haryana Steelers)  

Dream 11 Gamechanger of the Match – Nitin Rawal (Haryana Steelers) 

Moment of the Match – Manjeet (Haryana Steelers)