Its the penultimate day of the league stage of VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 5, the first match of the day is Patna vs Bengaluru and the second match is Puneri Paltan vs Jaipur Pink Panthers. The Panthers and the Paltan have met a total of 10 times and Jaipur have won 6 times as compared to Pune's 3 and 1 draw.
Puneri Paltan
Pune have it all to play for with their top spot hopes in Zone A dangling by a thread following their defeat against Haryana last night. The hosts must win against Jaipur to have a chance of finishing at the summit of their zone. They’ll need key performers like captain Deepak Hooda, do-or-die specialist Rajesh Mondal and defender Girish Maruti Ernak to all be on song.
Girish Ernak is the only Pune defender with more than 50 tackle points this season. Ernak will need to bring his A-game to the mat against Jaipur. He’ll be responsible for marshalling his defensive troops, and he can also pull off the occasional raid as his super raid against Haryana showed.
Jaipur Pink Panthers
The Panthers will be looking to ruin Pune’s script and end what’s been a below-par season on a high. Jaipur never really got going this year with injuries to key personnel at crucial junctures of the season playing its part in their fortunes. They can, however, take heart from the unearthing of new stars in Nitin Rawal, Pawan Kumar and Tushar Patil, who’ve all put in stellar performances this season. Jaipur can be optimistic about their title prospects in the future with such talent at hand as they look to spoil Pune’s party.
One of their key players in this match is Nitin Rawal. He will have a role to play in both attack and defence against Pune. Rawal is second on the leaderboard for all-rounders with 83 points and will be looking to make a statement in his last match of the season.
Form Guide
In Pune's last 3 matches, they have won 2 and lost 1. but despite this, they have still qualified for the playoffs. Jaipur, on the other hand, have lost 2 and won 1 match. If Jaipur win, they will tie with U Mumba for 4th, and if Pune win they will tie with Haryana for 2nd.
Match prediction
This will be the 3rd match between the 2 team and they both have 1 win each. But going by the form guide, the edge probably goes to Pune.