PKL 2023-24: Patna Pirates halt Gujarat Giants’ juggernaut, Jaipur Pink Panthers and Bengal Warriors play out first tie

The Patna Pirates put on a stupendous showing in the final game of the opening leg of the 10th Season of the Pro Kabaddi League, ending the Gujarat Giants’ winning streak in an absolute nail-biter of a clash. The Patna Pirates played with panache and power and won by 33-30 against the Gujarat Giants. Sachin and Rohit Gulia got the Patna Pirates and the Gujarat Giants off the blocks with their first raids of the game, after which the former champions raced into a 3-point lead within the first three minutes of the game. The Patna Pirates continued to dominate the early exchanges, with each one of them pitching in against the home team. However, as the first half progressed, the Gujarat Giants started to fight back. Compact and well-drilled, both sides continued to go at each other with all they had, and with less than 8 minutes to go in the half, the scores were level at 9-9. While Sourav Gulia and Rakesh were leading the charge for the Gujarat Giants, it was Sudhakar M who picked up the baton for the Patna Pirates in the first half, which ended with both sides tied on 12-12. The Patna Pirates were off the blocks at good pace in the second half, with Sachin landing a crucial ALL OUT on the Gujarat Giants, to give themselves a 7-point lead, and some much-needed breathing space in what was turning out to be an absolute thriller. The Gujarat Giants were finding it tough to get going on the night as Sachin, Neeraj and Ankit continued to dominate. At the halfway point in the second half, the Patna Pirates led by 11 points. Another ALL OUT went in favour of the Patna Pirates, who further stretched their lead to 14 points with just under 9 minutes to go. However, Rakesh and Sombir, encouraged by the talismanic Fazel Atrachali were looking to mount a comeback. With 5 minutes left on the clock, the Patna Pirates had a 9-point lead. The home team then landed an ALL OUT on the Patna Pirates, giving the supporters something to cheer about. With two minutes left, Rakesh notched up his Super 10, before he continued to power on, cutting down the lead to two points. However, the late charge was not enough, as the Patna Pirates walked off the mat with full points. Jaipur and Bengal play out first tie of PKL Season 10 The Jaipur Pink Panthers and the Bengal Warriors played out a highly entertaining 28-28 draw — the first of the season — at the EKA Arena by TransStadia on Thursday. Bhavani Rajput recorded a Super 10 for the Jaipur Pink Panthers, meanwhile, Shrikant Jadhav top-scored for the Warriors with 7 points in the match. The Jaipur Pink Panthers got off to a great start and didn’t allow the Warriors to pick up a point in the opening minutes of the match. It took the guile of Shrikant Jadhav on a DO OR DIE raid to get the Warriors on board. From there on, the Warriors constantly kept the Pink Panthers’ numbers restricted on the mat, logging points constantly. Numbers didn’t matter for the Pink Panthers though. Their defence led by Ankush logged three SUPER TACKLES in a row in the first half to ensure they held the lead at the break. So dominant was the Pink Panthers’ defence unit that it contributed 8 tackle points to their tally as they led 13-9 at halftime. To the Warriors’ credit, they didn’t get deterred by the Panthers’ defence unit and kept attacking without abandon. They won their reward early in the second half, inflicting the first ALL OUT of the game to take a 16-13 lead. Once again the Pink Panthers surged, and going into the last ten minutes, the teams were locked at 20 points apiece. There was no separating them as the clock ticked down, each raid matched by the other. A series of decisions given by a hair’s breadth ensured the two teams would remain locked on even terms with a minute to play. Right at the end, Shrikant Jadhav thought he’d won it with 10 seconds left to play, but Bhawani Rajput pulled off a raid point right after. Warriors’ Captain Maninder Singh was happy to carry out an empty raid to settle for a tie in the end.