Arjun Deshwal and captain Aslam Inamdar came up with brilliant performances as Puneri Paltan defeated defending champions Jaipur Pink Panthers 37-33 in a Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 match here on Monday. (More Sports News)
Deshwal (17 points) and Inamdar, who made his captaincy debut at the EKA Arena, bagged 10 points as Paltan warded off the challenge of their opponents in a keenly-contested match.
Paltan raced to a 6-3 lead when Iranian all-rounder Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh trapped Ajith Kumar in the sixth minute.
However, the Panthers fought back through their raiders. Arjun was a constant threat to the Paltan defence, but it was Ajith Kumar who made the difference as he got the better of Abinesh Nadarajan and Mohit Goyat in a superb raid to inflict an 'all out' in the 14th minute.
The Panthers took the lead for the first time in the match at 14-10. Arjun then grabbed points in each of his next three raids to ensure the Panthers held on to their four-point lead at the halfway mark.
Arjun resumed where he had left off as he picked up two more points in the very first raid of the second half to bring up his PKL career's 36th 'super 10'.
But just when it appeared the Panthers were going to run away with the match, Paltan mounted a solid fightback.
Aslam starred with a two-point raid to reduce the opposition to two men and Shadloui followed it up with an double thigh hold on Arjun to get the 'all out'.
Paltan reduced the deficit to two points at 21-23. A couple of successful raids from Aslam and a big tackle from Sanket Sawant on Ajith saw them draw level at 25-25 in the 30th minute.
Paltan continued to exert pressure with Shadloui earning a point each from a tackle and a smart pursuit raid. With five minutes on the clock, Paltan were enjoying a healthy six-point lead.
Arjun put up a valiant effort to bring his side back into the game, but there was little he could do as Aslam brought up his 'super 10' and led Paltan to victory.
