A vintage Pardeep Narwal masterclass helped U.P. Yoddha beat Jaipur Pink Panthers 41-34 in Match 109 of Pro Kabaddi League Season 8.
Jaipur Pink Panthers started the match on the front foot with Sahul Kumar tackling Yoddha’s Pardeep Narwal in the very first raid of the match. The Panthers raced to a quick lead but failed to inflict an ALL OUT.
Ashu Singh pulled off an important raid point and followed it with a Super Tackle to initiate a U.P. revival. But Arjun Deshwal’s clever raids ensured the men in pink prevented that Yoddha surge as the Season one champions clinched an ALL OUT in the 12th minute.
That gave Jaipur a four-point lead but U.P. kept attacking them. Pardeep Narwal and Surender Gill slowly got their act together as Yoddha reduced the Panthers lead to one point by the interval. The first half ended 19-18.
U.P. staged a mighty comeback early in the second half as Pardeep Narwal clinched a three-point Super Raid (+2 for ALL OUT) to remove all the Jaipur men on the mat. That gave U.P. a narrow lead but Jaipur didn’t let them run away with it. Both sets of defences took control in the subsequent minutes with a few bone-crushing tackles. Arjun Deshwal clinched his Super 10 as Jaipur trailed by three points with 10 minutes on the clock.
Pardeep Narwal got another three-point Super Raid with six minutes on the clock to give Yoddha an important five-point lead. He also completed his Super 10 in the process. But the Panthers immediately fought back with a Super Tackle on the ‘Record Breaker’. There was only a two-point difference with five minutes remaining in the match.
Sandeep Dhull’s tackle on Surender Gill helped Jaipur level the scores in the dying minutes. But Pardeep Narwal picked up an important raid point in a Do-or-Die situation to ease the pressure on Yoddha. Nitesh Kumar then successfully tackled Deepak Hooda in the final minute, to open up a lead.
Pardeep sealed the victory with another three-point Super Raid in the final move of the match.
Featured photo: Pro Kabaddi
