Reigning champions Jaipur Pink Panthers continued their rich vein of form as they rode on skipper Arjun Deshwal’s Super 10 to defeat U Mumba 41-31 in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 10 match at the DOME by NSCI in Mumbai on Saturday.
Arjun (17 raid points), Ankush (6 tackle points) and U Mumba’s Guman Singh (13 raid points) were the star performers of the game, as per a press release from PKL. U Mumba, the home side, struggled to get going in the first half and relied heavily on Guman’s raiding. He scored 10 of U Mumba’s 13 points in the first 20 minutes as the defence managed just 1 tackle point. Jaipur Pink Panthers were also shaky in defence but their 3-man raiding unit of Arjun, V Ajith and Bhavani Rajput came to their rescue.
A multi-point raid from Arjun produced the first ‘ALL OUT’ of the game as Jaipur Pink Panthers took a 12-5 lead in the 7th minute. A few minutes later, Ajith struck and Jaipur Pink Panthers had twice as many points as their opponents did at 18-9. Guman, U Mumba’s main hope, brought up his Super 10 in the 16th minute and also crossed the 300 raid points mark, but his side continued to trail by 9 points at the break.
Yet another multi-point raid from Arjun early in the second half saw him reach a Super 10 and become the first raider to cross 100 raid points this season. It took Jaipur Pink Panthers 8 minutes into the second half to inflict an ‘ALL OUT’ as Arjun’s 2-point raid and Reza Mirbagheri’s tackle put them in the driver’s seat. They led 33-19 with 12 minutes left on the clock.
U Mumba mounted a late fightback, courtesy of big raids from Jai Bhagwan and Alireza Mirzaeian, but it was too little too late for them to catch up to Jaipur Pink Panthers’ ever-increasing lead. Ankush, last season’s best defender, completed his ‘High 5’ as Jaipur Pink Panthers handed U Mumba their first loss of their home leg.
