The Match in a Tweet

Sachin… Sachin *clap clap clap*

The Giants went into the game with two changes – Sachin Vittala came in for C. Kalai and the Iranian all-rounder Hadi came in for Rohit Gulia.

K. Prapanjan brought home a bonus from the first raid of the game. With Sachin Tanwar’s touch point and Ruturaj Koravi’s timely tackle, the Giants got into the lead early. However, Puneri Paltan weren’t going to stay quiet and came right back with a 3-point Super Raid soon after.

Sachin Tanwar was on a roll! Every time Pune got their noses slightly ahead, Sachin Tanwar came to our rescue, and not just with the raids. With just three Giants on the mat, Sachin Tanwar made a timely dive to score a Super Tackle, and that wasn’t even his only successful tackle of the first half.

Nitin Tomar was threatening for us, as he completed his Super 10 within the first half. He’d scored 10 out 12 of Paltan’s points at that time. Despite Tomar’s show, Sachin Tanwar stole the spotlight in the first 20 minutes with 7 raid points and 3 tackle points.

As the half came to a close, nothing separated the two sides at 15-15.

Do-o̶r̶-̶d̶i̶e̶

Puneri Paltan raced to a 3-point lead early after the break. Sachin Tanwar and Parvesh Bhainswal made up for two of those points at both ends of the mat soon after. Ajay Kumar has earned a reputation as a do-or-die specialist over the years, and he didn’t do that reputation any harm on the night. In a crucial do-or-die situation, with our top raiders on the bench, Ajay shone bright.

Ajay Kumar’s all-important points got us in a comfortable position with fewer Paltan players on the mat. From there, the Giants were flawless for the next few minutes, scoring the all-out and amassing a 5-point lead with 6 minutes left on the clock.

It was Ajay Kumar’s night for sure! With an astounding 4-point Super Raid, he extended the lead to eight a little while later. From there on, we held the lead and registered our first win of the season.

It was a clinical performance from the Giants. We went into the game with a perfect head-to-head record against Puneri Paltan and came out with the record intact. Almost all our players stepped up. The fact that Sachin Tanwar was awarded the Perfect Raider of the Match despite having scored 4 raid points fewer than Nitin Tomar speaks volumes about the kind of impact he had. Parvesh Bhainswal was impeccable with his diving ankle holds in the second half and Ajay Kumar stamped his authority on the game in the few minutes he played.

Now, that’s the Gujarat Fortune Giants we know!