Mohammad Nabibakhsh produced a last-minute Super raid to help the Bengal Warriors pull off an incredible comeback to a clinch 42-39 victory against the Puneri Paltan in a PKL 2019 Season 7.
The Iranian raider produced a five-point raid in the dying minutes to give Bengal a lead and change the match entirely, much to the dismay of the Puneri Paltan side who had, until then, dominated the match. Young Pankaj Mohite and all-rounder Manjeet both impressed for the Pune side as they even tied the Bengal raiders, but their good work was all undone by a raiding brilliance by the Nabibakhsh in the last final minute of the match.
A closely contested first half saw both the teams match each other in all the sessions. Pankaj was handed a rare spot in the starting seven for the Pune as a coach Anup Kumar benched the experiences Nitin Tomar for the younger raider. And it was not so much surprising to see the raider to make an immediate impact as Paltan raced to a four-point lead.
Bengal and Pune even kept matching each other in the early minutes of the second half, but mistakes from the Bengal Warriors raiding unit that even coupled with the Manjeet all-round brilliance for the Pune saw the Paltan take a slender three points to lead by the tenth minute of the half.
Pankaj picked up his Super ten as the Pune side inflicted another all out on the home side in the last 113th minute of the half to move to a nine-point lead. A super raid by the Bengal Sukesh Hedge made it an interesting few last minute but Pune had a four point lead which is even going into the last minute, something which they would have thought would be enough to see them through.
