Jaipur Pink Panthers beat table-toppers Patna Pirates 38-28 in Match 53 of Pro Kabaddi League(PKL) Season 8. 

The first half was a closely contested affair with both teams matching each other raid by raid. Monu Goyat looked impressive for the Pirates in the initial minutes while in-form Deepak Hooda took the majority of raiding duties for the Panthers. 

Pink Panthers’ Sahul Kumar slowly found the rhythm in the defence towards the closing stages of the first half. He and Deepak Hooda combined to inflict the first ALL OUT in the last minute to open a 4-point lead. Arjun Deshwal produced a 2-point raid to end the half 18-12 in Jaipur’s favour. 

Despite Prashanth Rai and Sachin’s increased raiding, the Pirates failed to close in on the Panthers in the second half. With 10 minutes remaining, Jaipur, who converted most of their do-or-die raids, had a 5-point lead. 

Jaipur kept dominating the Pirates and used the momentum to inflict another ALL OUT with under 2 minutes remaining. Eventually, the Pink Panthers defeated the Pirates by a 10-point margin and continued their habit of beating the top teams. 

Top Performers: 

Raiders: Arjun Deshwal, Jaipur Pink Panthers, 9 points; Monu Goyat, Patna Pirates, 7 points

All-rounder: Deepak Hooda, Jaipur Pink Panthers, 10 points