Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Lavanya Lakshmi Naryanan and I will be taking you through today's PKL 8 match between Haryana Steelers and Gujarat Giants
REMEMBER THERE IS ANOTHER MATCH TODAY - U MUMBA VS DABANG DELHI. My colleague Nihit will take you through that. Follow here:
And that's the final whistle. Giants get a much needed win and Haryana Steelers' bid to go second on the points table is foiled.
32-26 Meetu is tentative as he searches for a point. Sunil and Girish come in to stop him in his tracks and send him to the bench
Meanwhile, Manpreet is giving them aggressive directions: Try and get all of them out. Increase the deficit.
I am not a fan of a tied game, but can Haryana do it?
31-26
Ajay Kumar has been so fast all night and was trying to kill the clock but got a bit distracted seemingly and is brought down.
Rakesh Kumar: Aaram se khelo. Relax and play.
31-25
Meetu gets Hadi with a running hand touch. He has fought well tonight but a shoddy defensive performance is lying it all to waste.
Under a minute and a half left and Gujarat won't mind running the clock down
31-24 Bonus for Haryana Steelers. Rare bonus point for them in this match.
31-23 Vikash Kandola is far too deep in that right corner and is surrounded as he tries to find a way out but Hadi Oshtorak and Girish Ernak dash and block together to bring him down. Time to think about the seven point deficit now, Haryana?
30-23 Ajay Kumar thinks he has a bonus plus a point here but the referees have just given the one point and no bonus. He reviews. Replays show him cutting the line and we are in line for an unsuccessful review.
REVIEW UNSUCCESSFUL.
Under five minutes left and Haryana has a six point deficit to wipe out to register a win.
29-23
Meetu gets a massive touch as he runs across the right corner and it's Pahal who goes.
29-22 Pardeep is one short of 10 points but he steps into the lobby without a touch
29-21 Well done Meetu. Girish Ernak falls again. Meetu tempts the corner Ernak falls for it.
29-20 Parvesh-Sunil-Ravinder come together to get Vikash Kandola off. Pahal pulls him back and Sunil and Parvesh bring him down away from the midline.
28-20
Ajay Kumar races to his super 10 as he gets Mohit off who comes in with an unsuccessful dash.
27-20 Vikash Kandola takes out Girish Ernak who comes for the block. Kandola uses his momentum to thump him down on the way to getting to the midline.
Under 10 minutes to go.
Haryana needs to sub out Surender Nada. That's a very expensive left corner there that's costing them this game. But what will Rakesh Kumar do? We have a brief break thanks to the timeout. Let's see when the players return to the mat.
27-19 Vikash Kandola gets a point with a running no look touch here. Too much to do for the Steelers ace
27-18 Pardeep is understandably targetting Surender Nada and Nada repays his faith and leaks a point with a flimpsy attempt at a hold.
26-18 Meetu goes too deep and it gives Parvesh Bhainswal and Sunil to contribute. They both dive together and get the job done with some help from Hadi Oshtorak.
25-18 Ajay Kumar gets a bonus point and it's that left corner with surprise surprise Surender Nada there that's leaking points.
24-18
Pahal is taken out again. Meetu Mahender uses Pahal's back as a launch board to jump to safety.
24-17 Pardeep is brought down as the defence comes together to halt the Giants raider. Mohit blocks him but finds himself off court for a while there. A point each.
23-16 Vikash Kandola goes after Parvesh Bhainswal who tries to low block him but Vikash drags himself away to the midline.
23-15 Pardeep Kumar gets a touch on Ankit who is far too close to the midline.
He is one point away from a Super 10.
22-15
Surender Nada looks for another anklehold and fails yet another time. Easy five odd points for the Giants have come from Nada errors.
21-15 Vikash Kandola has a job to do. He gets the bonus and pursues Girish Ernak. He quickly amps up his pace and uses the lobby to finish the raid.
21-13
Ajay Kumar comes into the party as he takes out two men in the blue shirt. He's taken out one of the defenders from the deep and another along the way to the midline. Too easy this is becoming for the Giants.
19-13
Meetu charges at the right corner and takes out Sunil Kumar
HT:
Haryana Steelers is reduced to just focusing on chasing the Giants and Rakesh Kumar is not going to happy about being in that position. They are in this situation because of Pardeep Kumar. I guess Pardeeps and Kabaddi are just a match made in heaven! This man has been crucial for the Giants in attack and defence. With eight points, he's shouldering responsibility for the Giants. Vikash Kandola has been off the mat for far too long. Haryana is rotating duties and infact it is the raiders keeping them afloat in this game but they need to be better at both ends to come away with the maximum amount of points.
19-12
Surender Nada has been off today, and that's being kind. He has gifted points left right and centre and does so once more for Ajay today. Going into halftime with a seven-point lead
17-12 Vikash Kandola goes on a fast pursuit here and takes out Girish Ernak.
17-11
Vikash Kandola gets The Hawk on the right corner with a toe touch. Where was Ravinder Pahal's attention?
17-10 PARDEEP KUMAR HAS INFLICTED AN ALL OUT ON THE HARYANA STEELERS.
He goes in for a kick at the deep end and gets a touch on the defender near the midline to wipe out the Steelers.
13-10 Pardeep is in play again as he brings down Rohit Gulia
12-10 Surender Nada and Mohit have to walk to the bench after Pardeep Kumar impresses with brute strength. He's pushed Mohit past the midline. WOW.
10-10 Meetu takes out the Hawk, Ravinder Pahal. He's on all fours and picks up pace and even an agile attempt at a block goes in vain
Vikash Kandola has been off the mat for a sizeable part of this game
10-9 Rohit Gulia tries to slide his foot past the bonus line and that tempts Ajay Kumar to try and ankle hold but Rohit will almost spider-crawl his way to the midline to get a point.
10-8 How fast is Pardeep Kumar?
He has swirled and run past the Haryana formation, taking out a player along the way with the swiftest of touches. Nice job!
9-8
Rohit Gulia gets a bonus point and ends up taking out Mahender Rajput also seemingly as the Giants player comes in for an advanced tackle. Just the one point lead for the Giants now.
9-6 Pardeep Kumar's brute strength helps him punish Jaideep's odd tackle. Jaideep was all on his own as he clung on to Pardeep's calves but he might have underestimated the Gujarat raider's insane strength.
8-6 Meetu has taken out Parvesh Bhainswal with a big touch. That chain - Sunil - Parvesh - is not perfectly in sync. Gujarat needs to fix that.
8-5 SUPER TACKLE and of course it's Jaideep. He runs into the midriff of the raider, blocks him and takes him down. He did not even need assistance here. Well deserved two points. This is Jaideep's 51st tackle point this season. What a breakout season for the youngster.
8-3 This Giants defence is combining beautiful. Ernak with a block, Pardeep rooting Kandola to the mid of the mat. Brilliant work
7-3 Pardeep Kumar takes out Surender Nada. Nad goes for an ankle hold but he pulls away and rolls off to the midline in the blink of an eye.
6-3 Ravinder Pahal is back and how! Pahal goes in for a block-double thigh hold combo to bring Vinay down. Pahal is stoic. He has missed far too much
5-3 Mahendar Rajput fumbles here as the clock runs down and ends up stepping into the lobby. He is visibly unhappy
5-2 Incredible block here from Girish Ernak and Rohit Gulia cannot get past this man. He is pushed back. Hadi Oshtorak on the bench is impressed
4-2 WONDERFUL anklehold
from the corner defender of the Steelers. Ankit it was as Jaideep comes instantly to his help to hold the raider back in the deep. Need more of this, the Steelers
4-1 Both defensive units are fumbling. Mohit is taken out as he can't stop Ajay from getting back safely
3-1
Vinay takes out Girish Ernak who comes in with a half-hearted ankle hold attempt
3-0 BIG ERROR from Surender Nada
as he goes in far too late to hold Ajay Kumar back. Ajay gets the point plus a bonus
1-0 Girish Ernak hammers Rohit Gulia down to the mat. Way to start the game in style, Giants.
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7:25PM: LINEUPS:
Gujarat Giants: Ajay Kumar, Pardeep Kumar, Mahendra Rajput, Ravinder Pahal, Girish Ernak, Sunil Kumar, Parvesh Bhainswal
Haryana Steelers : Vikash Kandola, Vinay, Mohit, Jaideep Kuldeep, Ankit, Surender Nada, Rohit Gulia
7:20PM: The Giants hold a 6-2 lead in their head-to-head matches against the Haryana Steelers.
The two teams have shared the spoils once. The Steelers’ second win over the Giants was their 38-36 victory earlier this season.
7:15PM:
The
Gujarat Giants’ campaign is unravelling quickly. In their previous outing, they suffered a morale deflating 41-22 loss against Dabang Delhi K.C., which kept them 11th on the points table. The defence had a woeful night, as they could muster only six tackle points. The Giants are now 13 points off the playoff spots but have two games in hand. With ten games left, Gujarat will have to win at least seven to be assured of a playoff spot. The defence, which is averaging under nine tackle points per game, needs to step up their game to keep Gujarat’s hopes of a playoff appearance afloat.
7PM:
The
Haryana Steelers are unbeaten in their last three matches and have climbed to fourth on the points table. Skipper Vikash Kandola has been in terrific form and the key to Haryana’s change in fortunes. Mohit and Jaideep are arguably the best Cover duo in the league this season, while Surender Nada has rolled back the years with his stellar performances at Left Corner. While they’ve been scoring plenty of points, the Steelers have also given up more points than they would’ve liked (36 points per game). If they can be stingier in defence, Haryana will be a force to be reckoned with.
6:45PM: The 2022 edition of the Sportstar Aces Awards is back and we are celebrating the marvellous year for Indian Sports that 2021 was. From Neeraj Chopra and the other Olympic and Paralympic medallists to the Indian cricket team, we have a bunch of nominees who need your vote to win! Support your favourite athlete/team here .
6:35PM: Another helpful reminder of the rules. If you need it!
6:30PM: Hello folks! Welcome to our live coverage of the first game of the evening between Haryana Steelers and Gujarat Giants. Before we get to that, here are the results from the last three days -
January 30: Jaipur Pink Panthers routs Patna Pirates; Tamil Thalaivas beats Bengaluru Bulls in Southern Derby
January 29: Dabang Delhi crushes Gujarat Giants 41-22, tops table
January 28: Patna Pirates steamrolls Tamil Thalaivas 52-24
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