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It was a fascinating day of Pro Kabaddi action on Tuesday as the Haryana Steelers finally picked up their first ever win in PKL history, defeating the Gujarat Fortunegiants in a clinical second-half performance. Given the lineups of the teams, that featured world-class defenders on both sides, it was expected to be a low-scoring and cagey affair, with both teams looking to play on the do-or-die raids.
With a little over 90 seconds to go for the first half to end, the game stood firmly in the balance at 9-11 in favour of the Steelers, but they had only three men left on the mat. Looking to kill time, captain and left corner defender Surender Nada came in to raid, looking to use up the full 30 seconds and take his side into the break ahead on the scoreboard.
No one thought he was interested in scoring a touch point, not even Gujarat's ace defender Fazel Atrachali, who is a previous winner of the PKL's 'Best Defender of the Season' award as well. With Nada ambling around the midline on the right side of the court, the Iranian, who was playing as a left corner defender, thought that it was the perfect time to ask for advice from the coaching staff.
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It was there that Fazel committed the cardinal sin of kabaddi by losing his focus on court. Nada, a wily customer, was quick to spot this lapse in concentration and at once, he sprinted across the mat and with a stretch of his left hand, he made contact with the Iranian and wheeled away towards the midline in celebration.
The Iranian had no idea what hit him and his teammates could only watch on in disbelief as to how the opposing left corner managed to catch their star defender napping. It can be said that the momentum shifted in favour of the Steelers from this moment onwards as they produced a defensive masterclass in the second half, with 16 of their total of 32 points coming through tackles.
It was a moment of magic from the Haryana skipper as he also picked up a High 5 at the end of the match, thus continuing his excellent start to Season 5!
You can watch the video here:
