Haryana Steelers beat U.P. Yoddha 36-35 in a closely fought Match 73 of Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 at The Sheraton Grand, Whitefield, Bengaluru.
Jaideep and Mohit got High 5s for Haryana, who clinched a win in the last raid of the match. With scores tied, their raider Vinay sneaked in a quick Bonus Point right under the nose of Yoddha's left corner to give coach Rakesh Kumar's men a victory.
Surender Gill wasn't part of the Gujarat squad which meant a bigger role for Pardeep Narwal. The 'Record Breaker' did not disappoint in the early minutes, bringing out his 'Dubki' to score early points and give UP a lead.
Right when they sensed an ALL OUT possibility, Haryana defenders upped their game. Surender Nada and Mohit gave the Steelers consecutive Super Tackles to shift the balance of the match. They levelled the scores with Vinay aiding Vikash Kandola in the raids. The first half ended 15-14 with coach Rakesh Kumar's Steelers in the lead.
Haryana went full throttle in the early minutes after the interval. They got their first ALL OUT in the 3rd minute as cover defender Mohit reached his High 5. Rohit Gulia and Vikash Kandola kept picking up the raid points as well to widen the lead.
They had a chance to inflict another ALL OUT in the 10th minute but Yoddha's last man standing, Mohammad Taghi, produced a 4-point Super Raid to get his team back in the match.
UP reduced Haryana's lead to just three points with 5 minutes remaining. They got an ALL OUT with 4 minutes on the clock to make the scores 31-32.
Haryana's Jaideep clinched his High 5 but Yoddha's Shrikant Jadhav pulled off a 3-point Super Raid to level the points with a minute remaining. Yoddha, however, threw away the match by misjudging a bonus point by Vinay in the last raid of the match.
( With inputs from ANI )
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