Jaipur Pink Panthers delivered a crushing 37-23 defeat to defending champions Puneri Paltan in Match 75 of PKL 11 at the Noida Indoor Stadium here.
Once again, it was Arjun Deshwal who led the charge with his 16 points as they completed the double over Puneri Paltan in Season 11 on Monday night.
The first 10 minutes of the match were tightly contested as both teams experienced successful and unsuccessful raids with Akash Shinde for Puneri Paltan and Neeraj Narwal for Jaipur Pink Panthers making notable contributions.
The lead kept changing hands frequently with Puneri Paltan maintaining a slight edge, but Jaipur Pink Panthers were hot on their heels.
The talisman for Jaipur Pink Panthers – Arjun Deshwal – took a substantial lead when he inflicted the first All-Out of the match on the defending champions.
The skipper for Jaipur Pink Panthers got Mohit and Satyappa Matti in a single raid, after which Reza Mirbagheri successfully tackled V. Ajith Kumar. They carried this momentum through to the very end of the first half with the score reading 19-11 in the Panthers’ favour.
‘Raid Machine’ Arjun Deshwal produced a moment of magic at the start of the second half to inflict a second All-Out on Puneri Paltan and complete his Super 10 in the same move.
After Abinesh Nadarajan fell out of the end line, Deshwal pressured Gaurav Khatri and V. Ajith Kumar to win five points in a single raid.
Another mistake from Abinesh Nadarajan in a Do-Or-Die Raid gifted another point to Jaipur Pink Panthers despite a successful tackle.
At this point, the match was well in favour of the two-time champions with Puneri Paltan needing a massive effort to come back from a 16-point deficit with 10 minutes left in the game.
Mohit Goyat was the main aggressor for Puneri Paltan, but he did not receive the support he would have expected from his teammates.
Pankaj Mohite also showed glimpses of his ability, but a lack of effort from the defenders worked against the defending champions.
Eventually, Jaipur Pink Panthers went on to secure an impressive victory with a difference of 14 points between the two teams.
