Hyderabad, Dec 3 (IANS): With a brilliant 40-34 win, the Gujarat Giants dented the Patna Pirates' chances of making the playoffs of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 9 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium here on Friday.
Mahendra Rajput (12 points), Sonu (5 points) and Parteek Dahiya (5 points) were the stars for Gujarat Giants as they registered a crucial victory.
Despite holding a faint hope of reaching the playoffs, the two teams kicked off at a high pace, trading points constantly, in the early exchanges.
At the end of the first 10 minutes, every Gujarat Giants player on the mat had scored a point, a measure of the high-energy contest the game was turning out to be.
Facing an All-Out, the Gujarat Giants held the Patna Pirates' raiders off on multiple occasions, before finally capitalising and turning the game on its head.
A Super Raid by Mahendra Rajput took out C. Sajin, Mohammadreza Chiyaneh, Monu and Sachin, to leave the Patna Pirates in trouble.
Despite the Patna Pirates putting up a brief fightback, led in the form of a Super Tackle by Neeraj Kumar on Parteek Dahiya, the Gujarat Giants soon got the first All-Out of the game.
They inflicted it with five minutes left in the first half to take an 18-16 lead. The Patna Pirates' Rohit Gulia got his ten points from the game in one half itself, but Rajput's raids kept catching the Patna Pirates cold. The Gujarat Giants went into the break leading 23-20.
The Gujarat Giants picked up from where they had left off after the break, Dahiya and Dong Geon keeping them in front. Faced with another All-Out the Patna Pirates pulled off a Super Tackle to stay within range.
Rajput completed 10 points of his own soon in the half. The game though stayed tight, neither team ceding ground, and the lead never extended two points. The teams traded Do-Or-Die raids, with Sachin and Sonu prolific on the raid.
Right in the final moments though, the Gujarat Giants streaked ahead, and even inflicted a second All-Out on the Patna Pirates to all but condemn them to a loss, while taking a 39-31 lead. The Gujarat Giants eventually held on to take a valuable win.