Jaipur Pink Panthers break through against Haryana Steelers

All-rounder Deepak Niwas Hooda inspired Jaipur Pink Panthers to a much-needed win against a resolute Haryana Steelers at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida on Tuesday.

The game started on an equal footing with both teams starting the game well. The teams were level until the 5^th minute after which Jaipur Pink Panthers started taking the game away from Haryana Steelers on the back of Hooda’s three straight successful raids and slick defence. They inflicted the first All-Out on Haryana Steelers in the 9^th minute as a Nitin Rawal hold on Vikash Khandola gave Jaipur Pink Panthers an 11-6 lead.

Check out the photos from the match here.

Haryana Steelers got their first touch point of the match shortly after a Khandola raid on Young Chang Ko kept the deficit within reach. Jaipur Pink Panthers were leading 16-9 when young Naveen came in for his first raid of the match in the 15^th minute. He turned the game in Haryana Steelers’ favour with a four-point Super Raid that reduced the deficit to three points.

Khandola got Haryana Steelers’ next four points including a touch on Deepak Niwas Hooda that reduced Jaipur Pink Panthers to a solitary player on the mat. Kuldeep Singh got a hold on Ajinkya Ashok Pawar with the buzzer raid of the first half to help inflict the first All-Out of the match on Jaipur Pink Panthers. This put Haryana Steelers into the lead at the break with the half ending 20-18.

The second half started with Jaipur Pink Panthers attempting to come back. However, Haryana Steelers kept on chipping away at the points as well. The teams played on Do-or-Die raids with Jaipur Pink Panthers getting the majority of the points. They drew level with a Mohit Chhillar-Back Hold on Bhuvneshwar Gaur in the 9^th minute.

Another Chhillar-Back Hold, this time on Mayur Shivtarkar in the 11^th minute, helped Jaipur Pink Panthers inflict a second All-Out on Haryana Steelers as Jaipur Pink Panthers regained the lead with the scores reading 28-25. Jaipur Pink Panthers took control of the game from this moment on as they started putting in slow and long raids.

Visit the matchcentre to relive the contest here.

Haryana Steelers tried coming back but Jaipur Pink Panthers quietly went about maintaining the gap between the two teams. Hooda became the first Jaipur Pink Panther to get a Super 10 this season, a feat he got to in the 18^th minute courtesy a Bonus.

Haryana Steelers tried to salvage a point from the match by ensuring the Jaipur Pink Panthers lead didn’t swell above seven points. The game ended when Hooda got a touch on Naveen as Jaipur Pink Panthers recorded their second victory of the season with the final score standing at 38-32; Haryana Steelers ensuring they got the point as well.

Top Performers

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Top Raider - Deepak Niwas Hooda (12 raid points)

Top Defender - Mohit Chhillar (4 tackle points)

Haryana Steelers

Top Raider - Vikash Khandola (9 raid points)

Top Defender - Mayur Shivtarkar (2 tackle points)