Gujarat Fortunegiants hammered Patna Pirates 45-27 in an inter-zone challenge contest of the Pro Kabaddi League 2018, at the Thyagraj stadium here on Tuesday. They became the second team after U Mumba to cruise into the playoffs.
Sachin and K Prapanjan turned out to be the heroes of the evening as they contributed nine raid points each to lead their team to victory. Parvesh Bhainswal put in a terrific defensive show, scoring eight tackle points.
Gujarat made a strong start as they kept Patna skipper Pardeep quiet for the first five minutes and Sachin picked up a couple of raid points. After five minutes Gujarat led 7-2 and were threatening to run away with the match.
A super tackle in the next minute gave Patna Pirates a lifeline as they trailed 4-7. Gujarat Fortunegiants inflicted an all-out in the 8th minute to open an eight-point gap to lead 13-5.
It took Pardeep 10 minutes to open his account as Gujarat's defence had an excellent first half. Another tackle point in the 20th minute gave Gujarat 20-12 lead at the end of the first half.
Gujarat further asserted their dominance as they inflicted another all out to lead 26-13 in the 23rd minute. Patna raiders just couldn't deal with the strong Gujarat defence and struggled to get raid points.
Manjeet scored with a raid point in the 32nd minute as Patna Pirates trailed 18-32. It just wasn't Patna Pirates' night as their raiders just couldn't get going. Their defence performed decently but it was never going to be enough.
For Pardeep Narwal it was a day to forget as he scored just one tackle point and that cost the defending champions badly.
Gujarat inflicted another all out in the last five minutes to register a resounding victory.