Jaipur Pink Panthers-Bengaluru Bulls match ends in tie
Press Trust of India Jaipur Jasvir Singh scored a crucial point in the dying seconds of the game as Jaipur Pink Panthers came back from an 11-point deficit to tie 28-28 against the Bengaluru Bulls here today.
For long periods of the game, it looked like the Bulls would coast to a comfortable victory but Jasvir had a tremendous second half to snatch a tie from the jaws of defeat.
Jaipur Pink Panthers moved up to third place with nine points whereas Bengaluru Bulls jumped to fourth spot with eight points. Jasvir Singh ended with nine raid points and ended as the top scorer in the match.
In the first minute of the game, Bengaluru Bulls sent Jasvir Singh packing to the bench as they took a 2-0 lead. Singh came back in the fifth minute to score his first point with a do-or-die raid.
Vinod Kumar was the most successful raider for the Bulls in the first half, as he scored two more points in the 15th minute to give them a 10-7 lead. With less than four minutes to go, Bulls inflicted their first all out to lead 14-9.
Jasvir Singh finished the first half of on a high as they scored two quick points to trail by 11-14. ShabeerBappu had five empty raids for Jaipur Pink Panthers in the first half.
Bengaluru Bulls defenders were on their game all night as they forced two successful tackles in the first two minutes of the second half to lead 16-11. Jasvir spent more than 11 minutes off the court and Bulls made his absence count. After first five minutes of the second half, the Bulls led 17-12.
Bulls inflicted their second all-out in the sixth minute of the second half to lead 23-12. It looked like curtains for Jaipur Pink Panthers but they came back into the game as Jasvir Singh three raid points to cut the deficit to seven points as Bulls led 23-16.
Jaipur Pink Panthers inflicted an all-out and trailed 21-24 with eight minutes remaining. With less than a minute to go, Jaipur trailed by 26-28 but Jasvir Singh made a crucial raid and then the Jaipur defence forced a tackle point to dash Bengaluru's hopes of recording their first win against the Pink Panthers here.