Gujarat Fortune Giants ended their 6-match losing streak by defeating Patna Pirates 29-26 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai, on Friday. Rohit Gulia produced a scintillating performance to grab his second Super 10 in Season 7, while Sunil and Pankaj were clinical in defence to help us secure a come-from-behind win in front of the buzzing Chennai crowd.
More GB replaced the injured Sachin Tanwar as the Giants entered the mat desperate for a win.
Patna Pirates started off well, with Pardeep Narwal constantly threatening our defence with his well-crafted raids. With the scoreline reading 2-2, Pardeep took a super raid to send Sunil Kumar, Pankaj and Rohit Gulia to the bench.
After Pardeep’s Super Raid, the momentum was firmly in favour of Patna Pirates, and they enforced an all-out in the 7th minute to take a 10-4 lead.
Despite struggling against Pardeep in the first quarter of the contest, the Giants’ defence was equal to the task and never allowed Pardeep and Esmaeil to run away with easy points. Sunil and Parvesh’s combination tackle sent Pardeep to the bench for the first time in the contest.
Sunil Kumar successfully tackled Esmaeil before More GB came up with a stunning ankle hold on Pardeep Narwal at the stroke of half-time. After a fantastic fightback, the Giants went into the break trailing at 11-15.
Rohit Gulia took three quick raid points at the start of the second half including a magnificent running hand touch on Jaideep. The Giants’ defence started to grow in confidence and we inflicted Patna’s first and only all-out after Pankaj tackled Oshtorak in the 23rd minute to take a slender 17-16 lead.
We extended our lead to 20-17 after Ruturaj tackled Pardeep and More GB earned two raid points in the do-or-die raid. But the Pirates super-tackled Rohit Gulia and Parvesh’s unsuccessful tackle on Pardeep Narwal reduced the gap to just one point.
It was evenly poised at 23-22 in favour of the Giants when the official time-out was taken, but Ruturaj tackled Pardeep Narwal in the do-or-die raid, much to the delight of our coach Manpreet. After Rohit Gulia got a two-point raid, the Giants ran down the clock in the closing stages to secure a much needed three-point win.
Full Time: Gujarat Fortune Giants 29-26 Patna Pirates
Perfect raider of the match: Rohit Gulia
Tata Ace defender of the match: Sunil Kumar
Game Changer of the match: More GB
After losing six matches on the trot, there is no denying the fact that this come from behind victory means a lot to Manpreet’s young troops. Now, the Pro Kabaddi League Season 7 action shifts to Delhi from tomorrow and the Giants will take on Haryana Steelers at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex on 28th August.
