PKL 10: Haryana Steelers stage epic comeback to beat Gujarat Giants 34-30
Mohit and Mohit Nandal's four points apiece and a defence that took an outstanding 14 tackle points roused the Haryana Steelers to fourth on the table.
Patna Pirates’ stellar all-round performance led the three-time champions to a comfortable 46-33 victory over the Haryana Steelers in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 10 match at the Noida Indoor Stadium on Friday.
Manjeet (13 points) and Krishan Dhull (five points) were the best performers for the Pirates.
The game began on a cagey note, as only five points were scored in the opening five minutes. The Steelers led 4-1 and worked it to an 8-3 lead when they reduced the Pirates to just one man.
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But it was not for the Steelers, as Sachin came to the Pirates’ rescue by tagging two defenders to prevent the ‘ALL OUT’. He then followed it up with a brilliant solo tackle on Vinay to inflict a ‘super TACKLE’. The Pirates trailed 7-8 at the 10th-minute mark and got on level terms 3 minutes later when the skipper, Neeraj Kumar, executed a ‘SUPER TACKLE’.
Sudhakar M produced a moment of magic in the 15th minute when he twisted and turned past Jaideep Dahiya and Ashish and the ‘ALL OUT’ came right after as the Pirates led 15-10. Shivam Patare gave the Steelers some respite, but it was the 3-time champs who went into the interval with a 3-point lead at 18-15.
The Pirates’ defence was on song in the second half as they got six tackle points in 10 minutes, which paved the way for a second ‘ALL OUT’. Pirates’ lead raider Sachin also contributed with 2 tackle points, as Ankit’s dash on Shivam in the 29th minute saw the Pirates inflict the second ‘ALL OUT’ and storm ahead to a 30-21 lead.
It was pure dominance thereon from the Pirates as Manjeet got rid of both Mohit Nandal and Mohit to bring up a Super 10 against his former team and then Krishan trapped Ashish to complete his High 5. That powered the Pirates to inflict a third ‘ALL OUT’ in the 36th minute and they took a massive 16-point lead at 41-25.
Steelers’ Rahul Sethpal completed a High 5 when he got Chinese Taipei’s Zheng-Wei Chen in an ankle hold and Vinay also went past the Super 10 mark, but it was too little too late as the Pirates cruised to a 13-point win.
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