Giant relief as they tame Patna Pirates

Just like the yore, Gujarat Fortunegiants snap their losing streak

It was a matter of one win, Gujarat Fortunegiants' coach Manpreet Singh had often insisted as his young team struggled to find their foothold in the seventh season of Pro Kabaddi League.

An unprecedented six-match losing streak, with their star raider Sachin out nursing a hand injury, things did not look bright for the Giants as they took on fellow strugglers Patna Pirates in the Chennai-leg of the league on Friday.

Pardeep silenced

But expect a miracle when you least expected it. All-rounder Rohit Gulia stepped in with a Super 10 while the Giants finally flexed their defensive muscle to negate Pirates' star raider Pardeep Narwal as they snapped their losing streak with a close 29-26 win yesterday.

The match began on a feisty note as Pardeep took out Ruturaj Koravi in the opening raid of the game before Rohit responded with a two-point raid.

Advantage Pirates

However, Pirates caught the game by the scruff of the neck when Pardeep lived up to his moniker of the 'dubki king' to do a three-point super raid.

The first tackle point came only in the sixth minute when Pirates' Jaideep tackled Sonu Jaglan. Pirates rode on the momentum to inflict an All-Out on their rivals in the next minute to move ahead for a 10-3 lead.

Fortune change hands

Just when it looked like another giant tumble, they upped the ante, giving a glimpse of the yore, slowly but surely. They crawled back into the game, courtesy of their resolute defence and silly errors from the opposition as they trailed their rivals by just four points at the half time.

Sensing the moment they have been looking for, what appears to be ages now, Giants inflicted an All-Out to surge into the lead.

More party

GB More finally come to the party, after his initial bursts at the start of the season, as he epitomised the growing confidence in the team dismissing Iranian Mohammad Maghsoudlou and Neeraj Kumar in a single raid.

Pirates, however, refused to throw the towel as a Super Raid from Monu and subsequent successful tackles from Hadi Oshtorak helped them level the score at 22-all. However, luck surely was not on their side. An official timeout appeared to have broken their rhythm as Pardeep got tackled in the first raid after it. Rohit's two-point raid gave Giants a three-point lead as they looked to close out the match by winding down the clock.

In the final minute of the match, Maghsoudlou raided Parvesh Bhainswal but it proved to be too little too late but there is no stopping Giants.