Pro Kabaddi League Season 6, Match 22: Gujarat Fortunegiants get the better of Puneri Paltan despite Nitin, Girish's heroics
Gujarat Fortunegiants got their first win of PKL Season 6 against the home side, Puneri Paltan by a margin of 34-28.
The teams were on level terms at 20-20, 10 minutes into the second half, but a 4-point Super-Raid from Sachin turned the match in Gujarat's favour, and from there on, there was no looking back, as the Fortunegiants' attack and defense came together to steal the game from the home side.
Sachin was the star player for the Fortunegiants, as he scored 12 points, including 3 tackle points to take his team over the line. It was not the best outing for K Prapanjan, who could manage just 3 raid points from his 11 attempted raids.
It was Ajay Kumar who came in as a substitute to score 6 raid points, including a Super-Raid, who proved to be an effective support to Sachin, and in the process made a strong case for a place in the starting lineup.
The Fortunegiants had started the match with 5 defenders, but it was just Parvesh Bhainswal with his 4 tackle points who managed to impress with his performance.
Puneri Paltan's performance in the match was a 2-man show with Nitin Tomar and Girish Ernak putting in a good performance, while the rest of the team failed miserably.
In this season, including tonight's match, the most consistent raider (among the ones who have played at least 5 matches) has been Nitin Tomar, with a total of 64 raid points from 5 matches at a whopping average of 12.8 raid points per match. In today's match too, he was at his consistent best, and scored another Super-10, with his 13 raid points from 16 attempted raids.
Girish Ernak, the Puneri Paltan captain, was the lone performing man in defense as he scored 6 out of his team's 7 tackle points, including 2 brilliant super tackles.
The Puneri Paltan's campaign has been suffering from a lack of team performance, and whatever pride and respect that they have been able to salvage has been due to individual performances. They need to start working together immediately.
The Paltan next take on the Jaipur Pink Panthers tomorrow evening, while the Fortunegiants will be next seen in action against the Tamil Thalaivas on the 26th in the Inter-Zone Challenge Week.