Jaipur Pink Panthers started their home leg on a winning note by defeating Telugu Titans emphatically. Around 40 seconds of madness in the second half was what costed the Titans the game where they ended up conceding the opposition a lead of 6 points after having fought tooth and nail to be neck and neck with the Panthers for most part of the match. They fought back hard to grab 5 points in the last minute, but it proved to be a case of too little too late for the Titans as the final score read 28-24.
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For the Panthers, Rajesh Narwal proved why he is so highly valued as a player with 7 raid points in the match. Captain Jasvir Singh too seemed to find his feet in the second half after an ordinary first half. For the Titans, Vinoth Kumar and Nilesh Salunkhe turned in admirable performances in the absence of Rahul Chaudhari but couldn’t take their team to the finish line.
Jasvir Singh had earlier won the toss and chose the side. Telugu Titans kicked off the proceedings with an empty raid. Jasvir Singh started on an awful note and gave Telugu Titans their first point. Shabeer Bapu continued his red hot form and got the team two points when he got main raider Sukesh Hegde with a toe touch but that proved to be the only impact the raider would make on the match as his following raids didn’t bring the team any points to cap off an off day for Bapu.
Rajesh Narwal was phenomenal in the first half and gave the team the early lead in the fifth minute. In the 7th minute, Jaipur Pink Panthers’ bonus point was reviewed and ensured that they didn’t run away with an early lead.
Titans’ Defender Nilesh Salunkhe then went over and lost his contact with the playing surface while tackling Jasvir Singh, ensuring points being shared. Rann Singh and Shabeer Bapu then foiled another Telugu Titans raid. The teams were separated by not more than 2 points in the first 10 minutes and the finished 7-6 when the official time out was taken.
Rajesh Narwal took the first do or die raid of the match but ended up conceding a point when he was given a brutal tackle by Mahalingam. Titans’ do or die raid too didn’t yield points and Jaipur took the lead. A couple of empty raids from both the teams followed before Sukesh Hegde’s jump was interrupted to put Panthers back in the lead. Jasvir Singh finally thought he had brought his team two points but the decision was reviewed which led to points being shared leaving the captain fuming.
Next, Vinoth Kumar put the Titans in lead with a wonderful running hand touch leaving Panthers down to four men. Mahipal Narwal was then brought on by Jaipur Pink Panthers to beef up the defence of the team just before the half time. But Mahalingam brought out his famous thigh hold to take down Shabeer Bapu in Panthers’ do or die raid. The Panthers returned the favour when Tushar Patil brought Vinoth Kumar’s do or die raid to ensure both the team went to the half time even steven at 12-12
Half Time – Jaipur Pink Panthers 12-12 Telugu Titans
Second half didn’t start on the brightest note for Panthers’ hero of first half Rajesh Narwal and two points were conceded when Tushar Patil made a successful raid. But much to Panther’s relief, the Jasvir Singh of yore had turned out for the men in pink in the second half and helped the team get two crucial points. The swagger was back for the captain and so came the points, both in raids and tackles.
Midway through the second half, the teams produced one empty raid after another and the match seemed stuck.
But with less than 10 minutes on the clock, Rajesh Narwal brought out his A game and got two points to his team in the Do-or-Die raid to give his team a 4 point lead, much to the joy of coach Balwant Singh. An All Out was inflicted the next minute on Telugu Titans and Panthers now knew that they had attained a very comfortable position in the match, forcing Rahul Chaudhari to come on the mat and Rahul delivered immediately with a point to reduce the deficit.
But it wasn’t going to be enough as Rann Singh snatched back one point and ensured there was no let up in the final five minutes of the game. Once the huge lead was attained, Panthers played the waiting game and it was only a matter of time before they ended the match as the winning team although Titans made a fine comeback to score 5 points in the last minute to reduce the difference considerably.
Full Time – Jaipur Pink Panthers 28- Telugu Titans 24
