Pune: Mohammadreza Shadloui and Shivam Patare led the scoring charts as the Haryana Steelers defeated Patna Pirates 42-36 in an action-packed and intense match of Season 11 of Pro Kabaddi League played in the Badminton Hall at the Balewadi Sports Complex here on Friday.
It was a match that saw plenty of raw emotions on display from both teams, but eventually, the Haryana Steelers came away winners. For the Haryana Steelers, Patare scored 11 points and Shadloui bagged nine points, while Sanjay registered an impressive High-5. In the opposite corner, Devank finished with 13 points and also reached the 200-point mark in his 16th game of the season. Devank is also the current highest-scoring raider of PKL Season 11.
The Haryana Steelers and the Patna Pirates have both been in fine form so far in the competition, and the two teams came out of the blocks with good pace, as they kept up with each other in the initial stages of the game. After that though, the Haryana Steelers started to get their act going with Patare and Shadloui taking charge.
Midway through the first half, the three-time champions had a slender lead with the in-form Devank and Ankit scoring the majority of the points. As the half wore on, Devank, Navdeep and Ankit started to control proceedings for the Patna Pirates. With about five minutes left in the half, Devank inflicted an All Out on the Haryana Steelers and gave his side a four-point advantage. At the half-time break, the Patna Pirates led 17-16.
Minutes into the second half, Devank notched up his 200th raid point and was marching on towards yet another Super 10. Patare then responded with a Super Raid, and the Haryana Steelers’ defence followed it up with an ALL OUT on the Patna Pirates, bringing the difference between the two teams down to one point.
The battle was starting to really heat up, as Devank came back with a three-point raid of his own, and in the process completed his 12th Super 10. After that, Shadloui’s Super Tackle helped him get to his High-5, after which the Haryana Steelers went through the gears and took the lead. At the half-hour mark, the game was very much on a knife-edge, with both sets of players looking to go for the kill.
As the final ten minutes of play began, Patare wasted no time in completing his Super 10, as the Haryana Steelers raced into a 4-point lead, and wrestled away the momentum from their opponents. The Haryana Steelers then landed another ALL OUT with five minutes to go and stretched their lead to 7 points.
On the home stretch, the Haryana Steelers picked up the pace and drove home their advantage, to walk away with an outstanding win.
(IANS)
