Vizag, Sept. 2 -- In a hard-fought encounter at the Vishwanadh Sports Club in Vizag, Jaipur Pink Panthers secured a narrow 39-36 win against the three-time champions, Patna Pirates, on Tuesday.

Nitin Kumar Dhankar was the star of the show with 13 raid points to his name, while Ali Samadi Choubtarash also scored 8 points for Jaipur Pink Panthers on his PKL debut. Maninder Singh and Sudharkar Maruthamuthu registered 15 and 9 raid points, respectively for Patna Pirates, a PKL release said.

Maninder Singh opened the scoring before Ronak Singh responded with a tackle. It was Jaipur Pink Panthers who dictated terms in the opening exchanges, but a two-point raid from Sudhakar M kept Patna Pirates on level terms.

Jaipur Pink Panthers started b...