PKL 11: Puneri Paltan Breeze Past Patna Pirates, UP Yoddhas Open Campaign With Win Over Dabang Delhi

The Puneri Paltan side was on fire and put on an outstanding performance, swatting away the challenge from the Patna Pirates in style in the Pro Kabaddi  League Season 11 at the GMCB Indoor Stadium, Gachibowli on Monday.

Led by Aslam Inamdar, defending champions Puneri Paltan defeated the Patna Pirates 40-25 to register their second consecutive win to start their campaign.

Puneri Paltan started strongly in their second match, as Aslam Inamdar and co quickly stormed into a 4-0 lead in the first few minutes of the game. Soon after though, the Patna Pirates started to fight back with Ankit’s Super Tackle on Inamdar cutting down the deficit to one point in the early exchanges.

With just under 10 minutes to go in the first half, the Puneri Paltan side had surged ahead and were looking to consolidate on a three-point lead. After that, a flurry of solid defensive tackles further extended the Puneri Paltan’s lead, who were dominating proceedings at this point.

For the Puneri Paltan, captain Aslam Inamdar led by example with seven points and had fantastic support from Aman with five points and Mohit Goyat, who bagged three points. At the half-time break, Puneri Paltan led 20-10.

After the break, Puneri Paltan continued to dominate the contest, keeping Patna Pirates at arm’s length. The Season 10 champions were looking comfortable and were building on their lead as the second half moved towards the midway stage. At that point, Puneri Paltan had a 13-point lead. Patna Pirates were giving it their all to mount a comeback, but the likes of Mohit Goyat, Aslam Inamdar and Aman were having none of it. As the second half wore on, the Puneri Paltan side had a solid hold on the contest and were looking good for a big win.

In the final minutes, the Patna Pirates’ Jang Kun Lee was introduced and his arrival triggered a round of rapturous applause from the crowd. However, there wasn’t enough time to turn the tide, as the Puneri Paltan side came away with a comfortable win to wrap up an entertaining Monday evening.

UP Yoddhas beat Dabang Delhi

The UP Yoddhas put on a solid showing on Monday and got the better of former winners Dabang Delhi K.C. 28-23 in their opening match.

The UP Yoddhas kicked off the proceedings when they picked up the first points of the game through a Surender Gill raid. After that, it was a tight battle, as the two competitors traded raids and points without conceding an inch to each other. Neither side could take an outright lead in the early exchanges in what was turning out to be a close battle.

However, as the first half reached the midway stage, Bhavani Rajput took charge as the UP Yoddhas started to settle in and edged ahead of their opponents.

As the half wore on, Ashu Malik and Nitin Panwar helped Dabang Delhi K.C. fight back and bring the contest back on level terms. The first half ended with the scores 12-11 in their favour.

The second half was also a cautious start with both sides taking their time to strike. Both sides were finding it tough to break each other down despite multiple well-thought-out moves in the early exchanges. At the end of the first phase of the second half, there was hardly any difference between the two sides. The UP Yoddhas led 18-16, with the game very much on a knife’s edge.

By now Naveen Kumar had picked up the baton from Ashu Malik and was leading the charge for the Dabang Delhi K.C. as they looked to fightback. However, in the final phase of play, the UP Yoddhas cranked up the intensity as Sahul Kumar inflicted an All Out on Dabang Delhi K.C. and the raiders also picked up crucial points.

That helped the UP Yoddhas take a five-point lead with less than five minutes to go. Eventually, the UP Yoddhas came away with the win in what was a closely-fought game. Bhavani Rajput top-scored for the UP Yoddhas with seven points.

In the two matches on Tuesday, Telugu Titans will take on former winner Jaipur Pink Panthers in the first match while UP Yoddhas take on Bengaluru Bulls later.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – IANS)