Hyderabad: Puneri Paltan were on fire and put on an outstanding performance as they swatted away the challenge from Patna Pirates in style at the GMCB Indoor Stadium in Gachibowli, here.
Led by Aslam Inamdar, Puneri Paltan defeated Patna Pirates with a scoreline of 40-25, registering their second consecutive win to start off their season.
Defending champions Puneri Paltan started off strongly as Aslam Inamdar and co quickly stormed into a 4-0 lead in the first few minutes of the game.
Soon after though, Patna Pirates started to fight back with Ankit’s Super Tackle on Aslam Inamdar cutting down the deficit to one point in the early exchanges.
With just under 10 minutes to go in the first half, Puneri Paltan had surged ahead and were looking to consolidate a 3-point lead. After that, a flurry of solid defensive tackles further extended Puneri Paltan’s lead, who were dominating proceedings at this point in time.
For Puneri Paltan, captain Aslam Inamdar led by example with 7 points and had fantastic support from Aman with 5 points and Mohit Goyat, who bagged 3 points. At the half-time break, Puneri Paltan led 20-10.
After the break, Puneri Paltan continued to dominate the contest, keeping Patna Pirates at an arm’s length. The Season 10 champions were looking comfortable and were building on their lead as the second half moved towards the midway stage. At that point, Puneri Paltan had a 13-point lead to their name.
Patna Pirates were giving it their all to mount a comeback, but the likes of Mohit Goyat, Aslam Inamdar and Aman were having none of it. As the second half wore on, Puneri Paltan had a solid hold on the contest and were looking good for a big win.
In the final minutes, Patna Pirates’ Jang Kun Lee was introduced and his arrival triggered a round of rapturous applause from the crowd. However, there wasn’t enough time to turn the tide as Puneri Paltan came away with a comfortable win to wrap up an entertaining Monday night.