Pro Kabaddi 2017: See-saw ride ends on level terms for Haryana Steelers and Gujarat Fortune Giants
Pro Kabaddi League 2017: Gujarat-Haryana clash end in tie
It was the first time that Haryana Steelers and Gujarat Fortune Giants faced off in Pro Kabaddi and gave Season 5 its first draw. ‘Pulsating’ is probably the one word that would aptly describe the match. At the end of it, the two teams took three points each.
Gujarat Fortune Giants took the first point after the first went empty. Rakesh Narwal was the man who opened the scoring. The next few points also went Gujarat’s way as they dominated the first two minutes. But Haryana fought back, as they did so many times in the match. The first time the scores were level came with just about four minutes remaining in the clock. But Gujarat pulled away in that time period and at half time, they led 11-8.
It was in the second half that the match took a turn towards insanity. Gujarat started as the team with a very visible advantage. Haryana had only Surender Nada and Mohit Chillar to start with. They survived two raids but then, Mohit as taken off for Surjeet Singh. The latter went for the raid and took two points. They then took the lead when Vikas Khandola took two points.
If the latter minutes of the first half was Gujarat’s, the first few of the second were Haryana’s. The momentum then shifted to Gujarat when they managed a Super Tackle on Nada. The score at the time was 15-12 in their favour. Then came the first of many turning points in the second half. Sukesh Hegde inflicted an all out on Haryana and suddenly, Gujarat were leading by seven points with just over 12 minutes remaining. The game looked sealed, there seemed to be no way back for Haryana.
But they saw it. They fought back a three-point deficit in the first few minutes of the match and did the same with the seven point deficit they faced. They tightened up their defence and their raiders stepped up the ante. They then manage four points in the next three minutes. Then the diminutive Vikas managed a Super Raid. Gujarat were left to fend for themselves with one man on the mat. They were all out in the very net minute and the comeback was complete. Haryana Steelers were level on points and the score was 23-23. The two sides then exchanged raid points and it remained the case until the final second. In the end, the two teams shook hands and settled for three points each, taking the Gujarat Fortune Giants team to top of Zone A points table.
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