PKL: Arjun Deshwal steals the show as Jaipur Pink Panthers beat Haryana Steelers
Oct 15, 2022
Bengaluru (Karnataka)[India], October 15 : Jaipur Pink Panthers rode on a brilliant performance from raider Arjun Deshwal to earn their second win of Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 in the second game of Friday evening, as they went past Haryana Steelers with a 44-31 victory at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru. Deshwal, who was in top form, earned 14 points to win, while Rahul Chaudhari and Sunil Kumar also made useful contributions for Jaipur.
Rahul Chaudhari began the match on a high for Jaipur Pink Panthers, as he not only earned two raid points but also eliminated the dangerous Manjeet in the first raid. But a minute later, Mohit caught Rahul to bring parity in the match. When Arjun Deshwal earned another raid point, eliminating Nitin Rawal, Jaipur extended their lead to 6-2, putting the Steelers on the backfoot.
At the halfway mark in the first half, Arjun earned a super raid, but Jaideep and Mohit combo inflicted a super tackle and got the Jaipur raider out to level the playing field once again. A few minutes later Ankush and Sahul combined to inflict a super tackle on Meetu, and Jaipur retook the lead. Jaipur Pink Panthers inflicted an all-out on the Steelers and went into halftime with a solid lead at 20-12.
Manjeet was caught by Sunil in the first raid of the second half and the gap between the teams continued to increase. With a strong lead, Jaipur Pink Panthers strategically started playing safely, attacking only on do-or-die raids. But Arjun continued his excellent show, eliminating Mohit on a do-or-die raid, extending the lead to 23-14.
Jaipur Pink Panthers inflicted another all-out on Haryana Steelers, further extending their lead. Arjun continued to pick up raid points for his team as the clock kept ticking by.
Steelers' defence couldn't find a way to tackle the threat posed by the Jaipur raider. On the other end, defenders Sahul and Ankush performed consistently as they did not allow the Steelers to get back into the game with raid points. With a handsome lead, the Jaipur Pink Panthers started testing their bench strength, but Haryana Steelers were unable to cover the deficit as the Panthers picked up a big victory.
