Captain Jasvir Singh and Rajesh Narwal scored seven points each to lead Jaipur Pink Panthers to a 33-27 win over Puneri Paltan here at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium last evening.
Jaipur Raiders forced Puneri Paltan defence to make too many errors as they made raids at crucial moments to give them a comfortable win.
Jaipur Pink Panthers went top of the league with 37 points from 11 games and are looking good to seal a semi final spot while Puneri Paltan missed a chance to go second and remain third with 30 points from 10 games.
Puneri Paltan began swiftly as they led 3-1 after the first five minutes. But Rajesh Narwal scored two raid points in two minutes as Jaipur Pink Panthers tied the game at 3-3 in the seventh minute. Jasvir Singh scored his first point in ninth minute as Jaipur Pink Panthers led 5-3. Ajay Thakur leveled the game at 5-5 after 10 minutes with a two-point raid.
There were as many as 11 empty raids in the first 11 minutes from both teams as it was 6-6 after 12 minutes. Jasvir Singh scored two raid points in the 13th minute as Jaipur Pink Panthers led 9-6 and Pune reduced to just one man. Jaipur duly inflicted an all out in the next minute to lead 12-7 after 14 minutes. Puneri Paltan struggled in the first half as their raiders failed to find consistency. Ajay Kumar scored a two-point raid in the 20th minute as Jaipur Pink Panthers led 17-9 after the end of the first half.
Rajesh Narwal capitalized on yet another by Pune defence to score two points as Jaipur Pink Panthers led 20-10 after 24 minutes. Jaipur inflicted the second all out in 26th minute as they led 25-14 and Puneri Paltan looking all over the place. Puneri Paltan scored three straight points but Ajay Kumar dashed hopes of a comeback with a two-point raid to give Jaipur 27-17 lead. With nine minutes left Pune scored with a two-point raid to cut the deficit to seven points.
With less than five minutes left, Puneri Paltan trailed by eight points and continued to make errors. Deepak Niwas Hooda scored with an important raid for Pune in the dying seconds of the match to cut the lead to less than seven points as Jaipur Pink Panthers prevailed 33-27.
