Pro Kabaddi League 2018, Match 118: Jaipur Pink Panthers v Haryana Steelers, Player Ratings
The Jaipur Pink Panthers picked up their second win in four games at home courtesy of a 39-30 win over the Haryana Steelers at the Tau Devilal Sports Complex in Haryana.
The Panthers and Steelers had already clashed paths earlier this season with the former winning both matches, the first by a 36-33 margin and the second by a 38-32 margin. For the Steelers, revenge was certainly on the cards while for the Panthers, it was a matter of inflicting a hat-trick of losses on the Monu Goyat-led side.
However, with both teams out of contention for the playoffs, the game served as a dead rubber of sorts but was still packed with action as both teams dealt blow for blow which saw the two teams locked at 13 points into the break.
With both skippers unable to produce the goods, the secondary raiders in Selvamani K and Vikash Khandola stole the spotlight as they went about their business in fine fashion to keep their team afloat in the competition.
However, the second half spun a different story as the Panthers galloped away to a seven-point lead with an all-out on the Haryana Steelers in the 25th minute of the game. That lead only swelled with time as Deepak Hooda regained his lost form and found some crucial touch points while cover defender Sunil Siddhgavali was a force to reckon with for the Steelers' raiders.
While it seemed like Jaipur would run away with the game, a couple of raids from Khandola and a top effort from Monu Goyat leveled the scores until three points in a row for Deepak Hooda earned the Panthers skipper a 'Super-10', which ultimately proved to be the driving factor behind Jaipur's 39-30 win.
Haryana Steelers
Monu Goyat - 6.5/10
The Haryana skipper was not in the greatest of form in the first half as he was brought down on a few occasions and also gave away a point through a false tackle. In the second half, Monu picked up five raid points and got his team within touching distance of taking the lead.
Vikash Khandola - 7/10
Khandola looked solid in the opening half of the game as he notched up three points with some clever skills and brought out his skill sets even more in the second half as he notched up three vital points, to finish on top of the scoresheet with seven raid points.
Naveen - 6/10
Naveen used his height to good effect to collect two hand touches in the first half apart from a bonus while he also made some useful contributions on the defensive front to finish with six points in all.
Sunil - 5/10
Sunil started slow but soon grew in confidence on the right corner as he pulled off some formidable ankle holds on the Jaipur raiders to pick up two tackle points in the second half.
Kuldeep Singh - 6.5/10
Haryana's left corner did not have the best of outings in the first half as he failed to collect a single point but made a strong comeback in the second half to finish with three tackle points from the game including two from a super tackle on Deepak Hooda.
Sachin Shingade - 4/10
The burly cover defender collected his first point of the game with an ankle hold on Pawar in the first half but failed to add any more points.
Mayur Shivtarkar - 5/10
The youngster, who is often criticized for his hurried tackles, looked calm on the defensive front as he made a telling tackle on Selvamani in the first half and also picked up a vital bonus point in the second half.
SUBSTITUTES
Prateek - 6/10
Prateek was subbed on late in the second half and made a few empty raids but also pulled off a double thigh hold to bring Selvamani down on the Do-or-Die raid.
Parveen - 3/10
Parveen came in place Sachin Shingade but failed to make an impact as he finished with two unsuccessful tackles from the game.