Noida, Nov 19 (IANS): Pankaj Mohite, and Bhavani Rajput excelled for their respective teams as Puneri Paltan and UP Yoddhas played out the fifth tie of Season 11 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), with the scoreline reading 29-29, at the Noida Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday. Bhavani Rajput registered a Super 10 for the UP Yoddhas, while Pankaj Mohite scored 9 points for the Puneri Paltan.

It was a rapid start from the defending champions as Pankaj Mohite registered the first tackle of the game to open the scoring. His side cruised to a 4-0 lead in three minutes, going about like it was business as usual.

After a slow start, UP Yoddhas got their first points on the board courtesy of a Super Tackle from Ashu Singh. From there on, it didn’t take them too long to level the score at 5-5.

Puneri Paltan managed to inch ahead with a three-point lead, before another Super Tackle, this time from Sumit, got the UP Yoddhas levelled things up again. UP Yoddhas steadily found their groove and inflicted an All Out on Puneri Paltan, opening a six-point gap between the two sides. The defending champions weren’t going to go down without a fight as the first half was coming to a close. V. Ajith Kumar’s two-point raid helped them cut the deficit down to two points, ending a closely contested first half with a scoreline of 16-14 with the UP Yoddhas in the lead.

It was a cautious start to the second half from both sides until Bhavani Rajput was on the right side of a Do-or-Die Raid, ensuring the UP Yoddhas stayed in the lead. Pankaj Mohite returned the favour, getting two points in a Do-or-Die Raid to help close the gap for Puneri Paltan before Aryavardhan Navale evened things up at 20-20 with ten minutes to go in the game.

The defending champions got their noses in front again after Mohit tackled Bhavani Rajput on a Do-or-Die Raid, followed by Pankaj Mohite carrying on his good work on the offensive end. Gaurav Khatri’s third tackle of the night, this time on Keshav Kumar helped Puneri Paltan inflict an ALL OUT and move back in front by five points.

V. Ajith Kumar got some momentum, inflicting a couple of quick raids to keep the Puneri Paltan’s lead intact. However, Bhavani Rajput was doing his bit to make sure that UP Yoddhas stayed in the hunt with under four minutes to go and only three points separating the two teams.

There was no stopping Bhavani Rajput as he scored a two-point raid, cutting the deficit to one point for UP Yoddhas. He completed his Super 10 to even things out for his side in the dying moments, ensuring that the two teams share the spoils. This was Puneri Paltan’s second draw in three matches and the fifth tie of this season.