Jaipur Pink Panthers beat Bengaluru Bulls 41-34

Panchkula: Deepak Narwal inspired a 41-34 Jaipur Pink Panthers victory against defending champions Bengaluru Bulls in a VIVO Pro Kabaddi match at the Tau Devilal Sports Complex in Panchkula on Friday.

Deepak Narwal scored 16 points and was supported in the raiding department by Nilesh Salunke (9 points), as Jaipur maintained an outside chance of qualifying for the season seven playoffs. Pawan Sehrawat secured yet another Super 10 (14 points) but Bengaluru’s defence couldn’t match the Panthers on the night.

Pink Panthers were in no mood to let Bulls’ Pawan Sehrawat dictate the game as their defenders tackled the superstar raider twice in the early minutes to open up a three-point lead. Unfortunately for the season one champions, their captain and lead raider Deepak Niwas Hooda was not part of the squad, which meant they had to rely on the skills of Nilesh Salunke and Deepak Narwal for the raids. Similarly, Bengaluru’s secondary raider for the night was Sumit Singh, as their captain Rohit Kumar once again missed a match due to an injury. The game sprung to life in the 8th minute when Nilesh Salunke secured a three-point Super Raid. Bulls reacted immediately with a three-point Super Raid by Pawan Sehrawat and that sparked a series of high scoring moves as both sets of raiders found mistakes in the defences. Pawan Secured his Super 10 but no team could inflict an All-Out in a first half that saw five Super Raids and ended 20-18 in favour of the Panthers.

The second half started with a Super Tackle on Pawan Sehrawat but that was pretty much the only positive play in the early minutes for the Pink Panthers who conceded an All-Out in the 6th minute after the restart. The All-Out did not, however, shatter Panthers’ belief and their hard work paid off with seven minutes remaining when a Super Tackle on Pawan Sehrawat by Sandeep Dhull was followed up by a two-point raid by Deepak Narwal to level the points at 31-31. The last few minutes saw both sides trading blows. Guman Singh impressed for the Pink Panthers from the bench. Sandeep Dhull successfully tackled Pawan Sehrawat in the penultimate minute to give Panthers a two-point lead. The defence held firm in the final minute as Jaipur clinched an All-Out and an important victory.