Deepak Hooda’s dazzling display lifts Jaipur Pink Panthers to fourth on the table

A Super 10 from skipper Deepak Hooda and a solid defensive display helped Jaipur Pink Panthers beat Dabang Delhi K.C.  With this win, Jaipur climbed to fourth on the points table. 

Reigning MVP Naveen Kumar marked his return to the mat in this game, and Sahul welcomed him back with a crunching tackle from Sahul. Arjun Deshwal then added three points to his team’s total, while Sandeep Dhull helped himself to a tackle point as the Pink Panthers raced to a 5-1 lead.

 A two-point raid from Vijay seemed to have halted Jaipur’s surge, but the Pink Panthers added three more unanswered points to their total to leave Delhi with just two men on the mat. Hooda went in to raid, hoping to help his side inch closer to inflicting an All Out. But the skipper was Super Tackled, which cut Delhi’s deficit to just two. 

Deshwal reduced Delhi to just two players on the mat again with another touch point, but in his subsequent raid, he too was Super Tackled which levelled the scores. 

With the opportunity to inflict an All Out slipping out of their grasps, Hooda came to the fore with a touch and tackle point in back-to-back raids to reduce Delhi to just two on the mat. The skipper then went in and tagged both defenders before sprinting across the midline to inflict an All Out and help his side take a four-point lead. 

The Pink Panthers finished the first half slightly stronger and outscored Delhi 6-5 to go into the break leading 21-15.

The two teams matched each point-for-point in the first few minutes of the second half as Jaipur retained their six-point lead. Delhi managed to reduce the Pink Panthers to just three players on the mat, but the defence responded with a Super Tackle to push their lead to eight. Two raid points from Hooda and a stellar tackle on Ashu Malik from substitute Nitin Rawal saw Jaipur take an 11-point lead, ending Delhi’s hopes of a victory.

With victory out of sight, Delhi diverted their attention to bringing the deficit under seven to earn a point from the contest. Vijay aided that goal with three raid points in two attempts before Neeraj added another touch point to Delhi’s total to cut the deficit to seven. In the game’s final raid, the defence tackled Hooda to bring the deficit six and ensure their team earned a point from the contest. 

Top Performers 

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Best Raider - Deepak Hooda (11 Raid Points)

Best Defender - Nitin Rawal (3 Tackle Points)

Dabang Delhi K.C.

Best Raider - Vijay (16 Raid Points)

Best Defender - Joginder Narwal (2 Tackle Points)