PKL 2024: Deshwal’s 16-point performance helps Pink Panthers defeat Paltan
Jaipur Pink Panthers ended Puneri Paltan’s eight-match winning streak and secured a narrow 36-34 victory on Saturday.
The Paltan had a huge lead of 20-11 at the end of the first half. Yet near the end, the Panthers fought back with harrowing success. Arjun Deshwal was the star for their side and collected 16 points.
The Panthers tackled Mohit Goyat in the opening minutes of the second half but Shadloui grabbed tackle points from the other end to keep the Paltan ahead at 21-13 in the 25th minute.
Yet Deshwal pulled off a ‘Super Raid’ as the Panthers reduced Pune’s squad to just one member in the 29th minute.
The home team created an ‘All Out’ moments later to reduce the gap between the two teams, at 22-23. The Panthers followed the momentum and took a 24-23 lead shortly after.
Bhavani Rajput produced a brilliant strike to take out Shadloui as the Panthers opened up a decent lead of 28-23 in the 34th minute.
Deshwal grabbed a raid point soon after to reduce the Pune side to just one member, with the Panthers inflicting another ‘All Out’ shortly afterwards and leading, comfortably ahead at 32-26.
Nevertheless, the Paltan fought back, reducing the Panthers to just one in the final seconds of the match before Rajput held his nerve during the final attack to take his team to a thrilling victory.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: January 13, 2024 | 11:40 PM IST