Pro Kabaddi League 2018, Match 87: Puneri Paltan vs Gujarat Fortunegiants, Player Ratings
The final day of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 6 action from the adopted home leg of the Bengaluru Bulls at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune saw the local side Puneri Paltan take on Gujarat Fortunegiants in the first match.
Puneri Paltan came into the match on the back of a stunning comeback win over Haryana Steelers last night after being down 15 points at the end of the first half. Sandeep Narwal and Monu were the star performers on the mat for the Paltan as they aimed to keep their playoff chances intact as we head into the business end of the competition. Gujarat Fortunegiants, on the other hand, are almost assured of a playoff spot as they started on the second spot of the Zone A standings after a successful home leg in Ahmedabad. They came into this match after two wins at the end of their home leg and were in high spirits.
The first half of the match saw the Gujarat Fortunegiants take control of the proceedings on the mat as Sachin Tanwar led the raiding charge for them. The defence was at their best, keeping the Puneri Paltan raiders in check. The half ended 20-11 in favour of the Gujarat Fortunegiants after a convincing all-around performance.
The second half saw Puneri Paltan show some spirit and claw back with a couple of Super Tackles but Rohit Gulia showed his defensive prowess and Prapanjan cleaned out the defence for a critical all-out, creating a good gap on the scoreboard in the final eight minutes of the match. Gujarat Fortunegiants ended up winning with a 35-20 score in the end and went to the top of the standings in Zone A of the Pro Kabaddi League.
Here are the Player Ratings from this game:
Puneri Paltan
Girish Maruti Ernak - (6/10)
The Puneri Paltan skipper was in good touch tonight with his dashes from the left corner, picking up a couple of tackle points in the first half. He added two more in the second half and fell just shy of a High 5.
Ravi Kumar - (3/10)
The cover defender had a poor game tonight, failing to pick up a single tackle point.
Shubham Shinde - (3/10)
The youngster was started tonight in place of Rinku Narwal but did not have a productive night as he did not manage a point on the board for Pune.
Sandeep Narwal - (8/10)
The 'Beast' played as a cover defender tonight and did a lot of raiding as well after his successful performance against the Haryana Steelers. He continued his good form as he picked up six tackle points tonight, including two Super Tackles.
Akshay Jadhav - (3/10)
The all-rounder played on the left corner and had just one tackle point. He went for a couple of raids as well and picked up one bonus point.
Monu - (4/10)
The feisty all-rounder contributed in both the attack and defence, picking up three points in the first half. He was replaced in the second half as Parvesh came into the lineup.
GB More - (3/10)
The raider for the Puneri Paltan was ineffective in the first half, scoring just one bonus point in three raid attempts. He did not have much success in the second half as well and was substituted by Rajesh Mondal for the last fifteen minutes.
Substitutes:
Parvesh - (4/10)
The young raider came off the bench to replace Monu in the raiding unit and picked up one touch point.
Rajesh Mondal - (2/10)
The experienced raider made his appearance off the bench tonight to replace GB More but did not have any success.