PKL 12: Top five best moments from Day 20 matches

Puneri Paltan holds the top spot at the end of Day 20 of PKL 12.

Day 20 of Pro Kabaddi League 12 (PKL 12) began with a thrilling contest between Jaipur Pink Panthers and Bengal Warriorz.

Jaipur dominated the early stages of the game while Bengal Warriorz made a late comeback, but it was not enough to defeat the Panthers, as they registered another win on their home ground.

The second match was a derby between two Maharashtra teams, U Mumba and Puneri Paltan, where Puneri Paltan dominated throughout the contest and registered an 18-point victory, completely outplaying their neighbours.

The day was filled with incredible moments and performances. On that note, let’s take a look at the top five moments from Day 20 of PKL 12:

5. Mumba raiding woes

Puneri Paltan outplayed U Mumba in the Maharashtra Derby, and the main reason was the raiders not picking up points for them.

U Mumba managed to score only 12 raid points throughout the match, and they clearly missed the services of their lead raider, Ajit Chouhan, who is currently injured.

The Mumba raiders were made easy targets for the Paltan defense, as they scored a massive 20 tackle points. Mumba Raiders also fell prey to six super tackles against the Paltan defence. U Mumba fans would hope that Ajit’s injury heals soon, and the rest of the raiders come forward and perform well.

4. Devank Dalal’s Super 10

Bengal Warriorz suffered yet another loss today, but their raiding unit was brilliant. They scored 29 raid points against the Panthers, with Devank Dalal leading the charge. He scored his 7th consecutive Super 10 of the season, continuing his brilliant form and finishing with 16 raid points.

He was well supported by Manprit, who added 9 raid points. Devank tried his best to script a comeback for the Warriorz and almost made it possible, but the Bengal defense let them down.

Ashish Malik continued his fine form with 6 tackle points, but apart from him, the team managed only 2 more tackle points, which cost them the match by 4 points.

3. Nitin Dhankhar’s Super 10

Nitin Dhankhar has been emerging as the new star for the Jaipur Pink Panthers. He is making sure the Jaipur crowd doesn’t miss the services of their former superstar, Arjun Deshwal, and so far, he has been successful in that role.

Nitin scored yet another Super 10 today, his 6th of the season in just 7 games, finishing with 13 raid points and giving the home crowd another reason to celebrate.

He reached his Super 10 in the first half itself, and although he was quiet in the second half, it was still enough to hand the Warriorz a defeat and secure 2 more points for the Panthers.

2. Ali Samadi’s Super Raid

Ali Samadi has been incredible this season, providing much-needed support to Nitin Dhankhar in the raiding department. Today, once again, he did his job perfectly and went on to score his first-ever Super 10 in PKL, finishing with 12 raid points.

The main highlight of the match was his stunning super raid in the ending moments. The Warriorz were trying to make a comeback, having inflicted an all-out on the Panthers just minutes earlier, and now reducing the lead to only 4 points with two and a half minutes still left.

But then, Ali Samadi stepped up, produced a brilliant super raid notching up 4 raid points, and sealed the victory for the Panthers.

1. Pune’s Wall of Defence

As they say, raiders win you matches, but defenders win you titles. Puneri Paltan are proving that motto right, with their defenders even winning matches on their own. They completely dominated the game, scoring 20 massive tackle points, including incredible super tackles.

Every time Mumba sniffed a chance at a comeback, Pune shut it down with crucial super tackles. Gurdeep registered his 2nd High 5 of the season, while both Nadarajan and Gaurav Khatri contributed 4 tackle points each, and Vishal also chipped in with 3 tackle points.

Their combined efforts were the reason Pune secured yet another victory and climbed to the top of the table. So far, Puneri Paltan has managed the most tackle points this season, along with the best average tackle points per game. Their fans will hope the defense continues to deliver the same performances in the upcoming matches.

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