Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Five talking points from Day 21 of PKL 5
After playing out a thrilling tie against UP Yoddha, defending champions Patna Pirates were up against Puneri Paltan and found themselves sinking against an all round Paltan in the first half. The second half saw Pardeep Narwal back in his elements as he helped his team mount a comeback with a record 19 points. However, the team's first half show had sealed their fate and despite Narwal's heroics, Puneri Paltan ended the match as the winners.
Home team UP Yoddha came into the match searching for their first win in front of the Lucknow crowd against a Jaipur side without their talismanic leader Manjeet Chhillar. They ended up slumping to a third consecutive loss, though as they gave away the advantage by playing conservative kabaddi.
Some referee decisions also didn't go their way but in front of a young Jaipur side, they only had themselves to blame to allow the match to slip the way it did on Sunday. Here are the 5 talking points from the day.
#1 Ziaur Rahman begins the rout and ends it too
Ziaur Rahman had his first experience of Pro Kabaddi in his team's last match but just couldn't seem to manage to get his first points on the board. He would always agonisingly end up as the supporting cast to the likes of Narwal and Ernak on that night. On Sunday, however, he got his first tackle point against his name and how!
In a first half that saw Puneri Paltan dominate the proceedings, it was the Bangladeshi who started making life difficult for the Pirates combination of Narwal and Goyat. When Goyat came raiding early in the first half, Rahman gave him a low dash he would not forget as the man on the run was thrown mercilessly out of the court. But that was just to serve as the prelude to the Bangladeshi's duel with Pirates main man Pardeep Narwal.
Narwal had a tough time against Yoddha's Pankaj in the last match and this time, it seemed, Rahman had his number as he foiled his dubki attempts thrice in the first half and helped defang the Pirates. With a few minutes left in the second half and Narwal threatening a miraculous comeback, Rahman once again pinned him down to celebrate his first High 5 of Pro Kabaddi League. Rahman, with his performance on Sunday, definitely earned himself a few more matches in the Puneri Paltan defence.