Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Five best matches from Nagpur leg of PKL 5

#4 Match 21 - Puneri Paltan v Jaipur Pink Panthers - Panthers won 30-28

The match came down to the last raid where Sandeep Narwal made a terrible error of judgement

The last double-header from the Nagpur leg provided some breathtakingly close encounters and both matches make our list.

In the first encounter, the Pink Panthers survived a late charge from their opponents as the Pune side made a terrible misjudgement on the last raid to suffer their first loss of the campaign. Jaipur were playing without Selvamani, one of their main raiders, who had gone off injured during their first match.

Manjeet Chhillar, one of the best all-rounders in the game, was captain of the Paltan last season, but was let go as the franchise opted to retain the younger Deepak Niwas Hooda over the veteran. Manjeet looked to have a bit between his teeth in this encounter as he put on an outstanding overall display to lead his side to victory.

True to form, the Paltan started the brighter and held the lead early getting rid of Jaipur's key men in Manjeet and raider Jasvir Singh. However, Tushar Patil's successful raid in the 7th minute not only brought his side back to 4-6, but also revived Manjeet. Immediately his presence was felt as he took out Pune dangerman Rajesh Mondal on a Do or Die raid with a strong frontal block.

Marshaling his troops superbly, the Jaipur defence tightened up with their captain's return. Manjeet even contributed raid points, getting Girish Ernak with a deft toe touch in the 16th minute of the first half. The Panthers led 14-11 at the half.

With Pune captain Deepak Niwas Hooda having an off-day, the onus fell on all-rounder Sandeep Narwal to fetch raid points. However, Manjeet seemed to have his number tackling Sandeep on numerous occasions to render him ineffective.

Jaipur got the All Out at the start of the second half to jump out to a 17-11 lead. Jasvir was looking cocky, Manjeet was looking commanding and with Deepak Niwas Hooda struggling, the Panthers looked close to getting their first win. With 12 minutes remaining, they led 23-15.

Rajesh Mondal started what proved to be the Pune comeback in the 7th minute of the second half when he got Manjeet out on a raid. As Manjeet went to the bench, the Paltan sensed their chance and came storming back.

Sandeep Narwal delivered a fantastic 3-point raid. However, the Panthers held firm, pulling off Super Tackles when less than full-strength and still had a 10-point advantage with six minutes remaining. Pune chipped away and with a late surge reduced the deficit to 27-30 with under a minute left and just two men remaining on the floor for Jaipur.

Jasvir was one of them and he wasted time with an empty raid to leave Pune with the buzzer raid and a 3-point deficit and the Nagpur crowd roaring them on. Sandeep Narwal though completely botched the final raid of the match. Somvir Shekhar, a defender, was the other man on the court with Jasvir for the Panthers. Sandeep got a touch on Somvir, but instead of then getting one on Jasvir and getting the All Out which would have given his side four points in total (2 touch points + 2 for All Out), he sprinted back towards the midline and went back to his half.

A bemused Jasvir celebrated as he could not believe the let off his team had gotten. Meanwhile, at the other end, Pune and Sandeep could not believe what they'd done as they ended up losing the contest 27-30.

It was a match where the all-rounders starred as Sandeep Narwal led the way for Pune with nine points (seven raid points + two tackle points) while Manjeet was imperious, also with nine points (two raid points + seven tackle points).