Ahmedabad: Haryana Steelers claimed their third consecutive win in the 7th season of Pro Kabaddi League by beating UP Yoddha in an exciting thriller 36-33 in match number 40 at the EKA Arena on Wednesday.
Vikash Kandola was the architect of Steelers win as he scored a Super 10 while Sunil dominated in defence, picking up a High 5.
UP Yoddha started strong thanks to a two-point raid by Monu Goyat, which was followed by a successful Nitesh Kumar tackle. Steelers got on the scoreboard moments later, courtesy of a tackle by Ravi Kumar. Kandola then made his presence felt and combined well with Prashanth Kumar Rai as Steelers began scoring raid points to level the contest at 5-5.
Steelers then moved into the lead with Kandola breaking through Yoddha's defence. They enforced the first All-Out of the game on UP Yoddha in the 13th minute to take an 11-7 lead and looked to build on their advantage before halftime. However, successful raids by Shrikant Jadhav and a successful tackle by Nitesh ensured that that didn't happen as Steelers took went into the break with a 16-12 lead.
Steelers began the second period positively after skipper Dharmaraj Cheralathan removed dangerman Jadhav from the mat. Yoddha, though, responded with a successful tackle on Kandola to keep him off the mat and then chipped away at Steelers' lead. Surender Singh and Goyat in the attack, and Sumit in defence helped Yoddha inflict an All-Out on Haryana Steelers just before the half-hour mark to give Yoddha a 21-19 lead.
Despite the All-Out, Steelers continued to play with confidence as both sides began scoring freely at the start of the last quarter. 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.
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 Yoddha to just two men on the mat. But Yoddha refused to be beaten and tried to resist another All-Out with a couple of two-point raids by Jadhav. However, Steelers eventually inflicted a second All-Out on Yoddha in the closing stages and held their nerves to register a three-point win.
