Bhavani Rajput recorded a Super 10 for the Jaipur Pink Panthers while Shrikant Jadhav top-scored for the Bengal Warriors with seven points in the match. The game ended 28-28.
Ahmedabad: Jaipur Pink Panthers and the Bengal Warriors played out a highly entertaining 28-28 draw – the first of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 2023 – at the EKA Arena by TransStadia on Thursday. Bhavani Rajput recorded a Super 10 for the Jaipur Pink Panthers. Meanwhile, Shrikant Jadhav top-scored for the Bengal Warriors with seven points in the match.
Jaipur Pink Panthers got off to a great start and didn’t allow the Warriors to pick up a point in the opening minutes of the match. It took the guile of Shrikant Jadhav on a do-or-die raid to get the Warriors on board. From there on, the Warriors constantly kept the Pink Panthers’ numbers restricted on the mat, logging points constantly.
Numbers didn’t matter for the Pink Panthers though. Their defence led by Ankush logged three super tackles in a row in the first half to ensure they held the lead at the break. So dominant was the Pink Panthers’ defence unit that it contributed 8 tackle points to their tally as they led 13-9 at halftime.
To the Warriors’ credit, they didn’t get deterred by the Panthers’ defence unit and kept attacking without abandon. They won their reward early in the second half, inflicting the first all-out of the game to take a 16-13 lead.
Once again the Pink Panthers surged, and going into the last ten minutes, the teams were locked at 20 points apiece. There was no separating them as the clock ticked down, each raid matched by the other.
A series of decisions given by a hair’s breadth ensured the two teams would remain locked on even terms with a minute to play. Right at the end, Shrikant Jadhav thought he’d won it with 10 seconds left to play, but Bhawani Rajput pulled off a raid point right after.
Warriors’ Captain Maninder Singh was happy to carry out an empty raid to settle for a tie in the end.
