Vikas Kandola turned out to be the star performer for Haryana Steelers as they beat three-time champions Patna Pirates 39-34 in a Pro Kabaddi League match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday.
Vikas picked up a Super 10 (13 raid points) as Steelers produced a complete performance to quell the challenge of Pardeep Narwal and the Pirates.
The victory helped Steelers consolidate their third position on the points table.
The Haryana outfit didn’t show signs of missing their experienced defender Dharmaraj Cheralathan as they started the match on the front foot.
Patna’s Pardeep was successfully tackled twice in succession and that helped Haryana build a lead in the early minutes.
Vikas also looked sharp for the Steelers, picking up vital raid points as the Steelers inflicted the first all-out on the 11th minute to move to a five-point lead.
But the Pirates were not in a mood to give up and quickly got back into the game.
Their defenders tightened up to strangle Haryana raiders, while, in attack, Pardeep went about doing his business, ably supported by Jang Kun Lee. The first half ended with Haryana on top at 17-15.
{{/usCountry}}Their defenders tightened up to strangle Haryana raiders, while, in attack, Pardeep went about doing his business, ably supported by Jang Kun Lee. The first half ended with Haryana on top at 17-15.
{{/usCountry}}The early minutes of the second half was dominated by the Pirates but the Steelers clawed back into the game, thanks to some astute raiding by Vikas.
The raider made two multi-point raids in the fourth minute of the second half to open up a lead for the Haryana side, who went onto inflict another all-out in the ninth minute to once again open up a six-point lead.
Pardeep produced a massive four-point super raid with eight minutes left to make the match a close affair but Haryana’s raiding unit immediately fought back and restored their seven-point cushion.
The Steelers secured another all-out with under three minutes left in the match to open up a nine-point lead and despite Pardeep’s valiant efforts, Patna could not find a way back into the match.