PKL 8: Jaipur hold Tamil to a thrilling tie, Patna beat Bengaluru

Pink Panthers produced a Super Tackle in the last raid of the match to earn a tie.

Tamil Thalaivas and Jaipur Pink Panthers played out an entertaining 31-31 tie-in Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 8. Defences of both the teams had a great outing. Thalaivas captain Surjeet Singh and Jaipur’s Sandeep Dhull picked up great many High 5s.

Thaliavas had a 2-point lead going into the final raid of the PKL match but made a mistake resulting in a tie. Their raider Manjeet misjudged a touch. He walked into the lobby resulting in a Super Tackle and 2 points for Jaipur.  

Tamil Thalaivas had the better start to the PKL match. With their defensive duo of Surjeet Singh and Sagar not giving Jaipur raider Arjun Deshwal an opportunity increased their winning chances. The Panthers were not willing to let points leak in their defence as well with Sandeep Dhull and Sahul Kumar tackling the Tamil raiders with ease. The game changed momentum when experienced K. Prapanjan suffered a shoulder injury during a raid in the 7th minute. 

Surjeet Singh produced a one-man Super Tackle on Arjun Deshwal. But, Jaipur clinched their ALL OUT eventually with 2 minutes to the interval. At halftime of the PKL match, the scores were 17-13 in favour of Jaipur. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNEpFgGbM-4

Tamil coach Uday Kumar wanted his team to make a slow comeback and not rush things, but his team had other plans. With 3 remaining on the mat, Thalaivas’ Manjeet produced a stunning Super Raid that inflicted an ALL OUT.

Thalaivas took the lead. But, the Panthers got it back immediately with Sandeep Dhull and Surjeet Singh picking their High 5s. The two teams matched tackle for tackle and the scores were level at 24-24 with 10 minutes remaining. 

Ajinkya Pawar got a 2-point raid to open the lead for Thaliavas. Jaipur’s Naveen produced a Super Tackle to close the gap. Jaipur, trailing by 2 points, produced a Super Tackle in the last raid of the PKL match to earn a tie. Thalaivas will consider themselves unlucky as raider Manjeet walked into the lobby under the belief that he had gotten a touch. But the referees decided against his claim to end the closely-fought encounter. 

Patna Pirates are back to winning ways

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZBUK61CtpY

Pirates’ defence produced a night to remember as they helped the team beat Bengaluru Bulls 38-31 in Match 59 of PKL Season 8. Patna defenders Sunil (9 points) and Mohammadreza Shadloui (3 points) were instrumental in setting up a defensive wall that even the likes of Pawan Sehrawat could not break.

Pawan, the current green sleeve holder (given to raider with most raiding points), scored a Super 10 in the first half but could not contribute even one point after the interval. A series of Super Tackles in the dying minutes ensured the Bulls lost the match with a margin of just 7 points.  

The Bulls started the match brightly with Pawan Sehrawat looking his usual best. But Patna certainly had a plan to stop the PKL Season 6 champions. Their defenders pounced in the group to shift their momentum to their side. Interestingly, coach Ram Mehar Singh opted to start Guman Singh instead of the experienced Monu Goyat.

Patna unleashed a two-headed raiding attack with Sachin and Guman who picked easy points out of a confused Bulls defence. They clinched their first ALL OUT in the 9th minute to open a 2-point lead.  Pawan Sehrawat, meanwhile, got his Super 10. But even then Bulls could only make three successful tackles in the first half that ended 20-16 in favour of the Pirates. 

Patna were in no mood to slip up in the second half. Their defence was nearly flawless as the three-time champions clinched another ALL OUT in the 7th minute after restart. The likes of Pawan Sehrawat and Deepak Narwal struggled to find a way past the steely defence marshalled by Sunil in the right corner. Sunil got a High 5 as Patna opened a 11-point lead with 10 minutes remaining in the match. 

The Pirates continued their “high risk-high rewards” defending to sustain the lead. They might have been mistaken by conceding too many Super Tackles in the dying minutes which helped the Bulls lose with a margin of just 7 points (earning 1 point from the result). 

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