PKL 5: Gujarat beat Pune to maintain unbeaten run

Gujarat Fortunegiants stretched their unbeaten run to seven matches after beating Puneri Paltan 35-21 in a Zone A contest of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 5 at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.

Gujarat Fortunegiants remained on top of Zone A with 41 points after 10 matches while Puneri Paltan, after suffering their second defeat of the season, stayed second with 21 points from six games.

Iran's Fazel Atrachali scored nine tackle points to create a record of scoring most points this season.

Raider Sachin opened Gujarat's account in the first minute to make it 1-0 before making it 2-0 with a bonus point, thanks to Fazal successfully tackling Pune skipper Deepak Hooda.

Pune's defenders scored their first point of the match in the second minute as the initial few minutes witnessed a close contest with the scores levelled at 5-5 after eight minutes.

Thereafter, it was Gujarat all the way, scoring 11 points in a row including an all out to lead 16-5 after 12 minutes.

Fazel marshalled Gujarat's defence as they didn't give a sniff to Pune, who finally managed to break the deadlock by earning two crucial points towards the end of the first half.

Pune seemed to have no reply to Gujarat's aggression as the Sukesh Hedge-led side went on the rampage even after the breather.

In the initial few minutes of the second half, Deepak Hooda's boys tried to make a comeback by reducing the gap to 16-9.

Deepak scored a raid point in the 26th minute as Pune trailed 11-18 before Sachin's raid point in the 31st minute helped Gujarat stretch it further to 22-11.

Gujarat were looking in total command as Pune found the going tough even in the second half.

In the 32nd minute, both teams exchanged a raid point as the scoreboard read 23-13 in favour of Gujarat.

Pune managed to score five points in the next few minutes and reduce the deficit to six points.

With less than five minutes remaining, Fazel achieved a high five as Gujarat led 25-18 but Pune forced a super tackle in the 38th minute to reduce it to 20-27.

But Gujarat sealed the match in their favour by inflicting another all out in the final minute to extend their lead to 33-21.

--IANS

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