Visakhapatnam, Sep 8 (IANS) Patna Pirates finally secured their first points of the Season 12 of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) with a more-than-impressive 48-37 victory over table toppers Puneri Paltan at the Vishwanadh Sports Club here on Monday. It was Ayan Lohchab’s night, with the young raider scoring 21 points to secure his team’s first win after three losses.
The night started in the best possible manner for the Patna Pirates, led by their star raider. A Super Raid that eliminated Gurdeep, Vishal Bhardwaj, and Aditya Shinde got the proceedings started, and soon after, Ayan also got Gaurav Khatri.
Coupled with unsuccessful raids for Aslam Inamdar and Abinesh Nadarajan, the first ALL OUT was quickly inflicted on the Puneri Paltan. This swift start meant that the score read 15-4 at the end of the first time-out in the first half.
The script of the first 20 minutes remained pretty much the same as the Patna Pirates continued to dominate. Skipper Ankit joined the show after a successful tackle on Pankaj Mohite, and then, Deepak got Aditya Shinde, with a second ALL OUT on the Puneri Paltan on the horizon.
This came when Deepak tackled the Paltan’s Gaurav this time, inflicting the second ALL OUT, as the domination over their opponents continued. Ayan completed his Super 10 with a tackle on Aslam yet again, as he ended the first half with 13 points to his name, and the score-line at 27-10, giving the Paltan a taste of their own medicine.
The third ALL OUT came quickly at the start of the second half, after Ayan got two more points to get Aslam and Milad Mohajer. This forced a slew of changes from the Puneri Paltan, but it did not do much for the fate of the Season 10 champions.
Milan Dahiya joined the party for the Pirates when he got Abinesh Nadarajan and Vaibhav Rabade in consecutive raids. He played second fiddle to Ayan’s imposing performance, with Aditya Shinde’s successful raids acting as mere consolation. This was evident with the 20-point lead at the second time-out as the score read 39-19.
The three-time champions had a massive lead in their kitty, meaning that one ALL OUT could go against them. This ALL OUT was inflicted in the 8th minute, after Abhishek Gunge got Ankit.
After 20 successful raids, Ayan Lohchab finally tasted an unsuccessful raid when he went into the lobby for an unforced error. For the Puneri Paltan, Milad and Sachin Tanwar joined the party, but it was definitely not enough. A second ALL OUT was inflicted on the Pirates in the dying minutes of the match, but it was yet another consolation. Ayan’s one-man show, alongside points for the likes of Ankit, Milan, Deepak, and Navdeep, led the Pirates to a massive 11-point win over the Paltan.
–IANS
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