Puneri Paltan produced a composed performance to beat Gujarat Fortunegiants 43-33 in a Pro Kabaddi League match here on Saturday.
Nitin Tomar was the lead raider for the Pune side (Super 10 with 11 raid points), but the defence more than lived up to its billing with Surjeet Singh and Balasaheb Jadhav picking up High 5s in a total domination by the hosts.
Puneri Paltan dominated the entire first half, as they produced an all-round performance to thwart the advances from the Fortunegiants.
The Paltan raiders had Gujarat's cover combination of Sunil Kumar and Parvesh Bhainswal out in the early minutes and the season's finalists struggled to recover from the early setback, succumbing to an All-Out in the ninth minute.
Pune continued to pile on the pressure, with Manjeet impressing in his raids and in defence, and nearly inflicted another All-Out in the dying minutes of a first half that ended 24-10 in favour of the home team.
The second All-Out was secured immediately after the second half started as Pune piled on the pressure.
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In defence, Balasaheb Jadhav had an outstanding game and secured his High 5 with a Super Tackle on Sachin with 8 minutes left in the clock.
Gujarat managed to inflict an All-Out on Pune with less than three minutes to the final whistle but it was too late for a comeback as the Pune defence held firm to clinch their first victory in the home leg.