Jaipur Pink Panthers picked up their fourth win on the trot as they put on a dominating display to defeat Gujarat Giants 45-36 in their Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 match here on Monday night.
Arjun Deshwal was once again the star of the show as he stamped his authority with 13 raid points in Jaipur Pink Panthers’ final league-stage match, while Parteek Dahiya impressed with 14 raid points.
The defending champions got off to the best of starts as Shubham Shelke and V Ajith Kumar struck with multi-point raids and a fine tackle from Reza Mirbagheri on Rohan Singh led to the first All-Out in the third minute. This was the fastest All-Out of the season and Jaipur Pink Panthers had a massive 9-1 lead.
Gujarat Giants did well to fight back and reduce Jaipur Pink Panthers to three men, but the reigning champions staved off their advances and recovered to inflict yet another All-Out in the 16th minute.
Arjun ran circles around Gujarat Giants’ defence before Sumit tackled Deepak Singh to give Jaipur Pink Panthers a mammoth lead at 23-10. The Jaipur side ended the half with twice as many points as their opponents as they led 28-14.
Arjun got his 16th Super 10 of the season within minutes of the restart and a rock-solid tackle from Sunil Kumar on Jagdeep saw Jaipur Pink Panthers pick up their third All-Out and a 19-point lead at 37-18.
Gujarat Giants looked all but out of the game but managed a remarkable comeback to find a way back into the contest. Parteek Dahiya came up with a couple of fantastic Super Raids to not only bring up his Super 10 but also steer his side to an All-Out.
With five minutes to go, Gujarat Giants cut down their deficit to just 9 points at 41-32.
Gujarat Giants inched closer to inflicting another All-Out in the dying moments of the game, but it was not meant to be as Jaipur Pink Panthers clinched the win and retained their spot at the top of the standings.
UNI BM ARN