PKL 2019: Haryana Steelers clinch third win on the trot

Ahmedabad, Aug 14: Haryana Steelers picked up their third successive Season 7 win after overcoming U.P. Yoddha by a 36-33 scoreline at the EKA Arena by TransStadia in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Vikash Kandola starred for them in attack with a Super 10, while Sunil dominated in defence and picked up a High 5 in their Pro Kabaddi League tie of the evening.

U.P. Yoddha started strong thanks to a two-point raid by Monu Goyat, which was followed up with a successful Nitesh Kumar tackle. Haryana Steelers got on the scoreboard moments later courtesy of a tackle by Ravi Kumar. Kandola made his presence felt and combined well with Prashanth Kumar Rai as Haryana Steelers began scoring raid points to tie the contest at 5-5.

Vikash Kandola wins the Hot Raider of the Match for setting the mat on 🔥🔥🔥 once again and scoring his 3rd successive Super 1⃣0⃣ 🤩🤩

Dharmaraj is our Cool Defender of the Match for his timely tackling 👌@borosilandyou#UPvHAR #DhaakadBoys #ShaanSeSteelers #HaryanaSteelers pic.twitter.com/n83BdsOOMS

— Haryana Steelers (@HaryanaSteelers) August 14, 2019

Haryana Steelers then moved into the lead with Kandola breaking through U.P. Yoddha’s defence. They enforced the first All-Out of the game on U.P. Yoddha in the 13th minute to take a 7-11 lead and looked to build on their advantage before halftime. However, successful raids by Shrikant Jadhav and a successful tackle by Nitesh ensured that didn’t happen as Haryana Steelers took just a 16-12 lead into the break.

Vikash Kandola starred for Haryana Steelers with a Super 10 performance.

Haryana Steelers began the second period positively after skipper Dharmaraj Cheralathan removed dangerman Jadhav from the mat. U.P. Yoddha, though, responded with a successful tackle on Kandola to

keep him off court and then chipped away at Haryana Steelers’ lead. Surender Singh and Goyat in attack, and Sumit in defence helped U.P. Yoddha inflict an All-Out on Haryana Steelers just before the half-hour mark to give U.P. Yoddha a 21-19 lead.

Despite the All-Out, Haryana Steelers continued to play with confidence as both sides began scoring freely at the start of the last quarter. U.P. Yoddha had a one-point lead with a little over four minutes left to play, but the game was still very much on a knife’s edge.

Haryana Steelers tied the score at 27-27 in the next minute to add to the excitement. They then regained the lead in the 38th minute and reduced U.P. Yoddha to just two men on the court. But U.P. Yoddha refused to be beaten and tried to resist another All-Out with a couple of two-point raids by Jadhav.

However, Haryana Steelers eventually inflicted a second All-Out on U.P. Yoddha in the closing stages and held their nerve to register a three-point win.

Source: Press Release