Melbourne (Australia), December 28 : The John Cain Arena played host to a historic PKL Melbourne Raid, featuring a spectacular double-header that showcased kabaddi's finest talent from the PKL as well as from Australia.
The evening witnessed two contrasting matches: a nail-biting encounter between the PKL All Star Masters and PKL Mavericks that ended in a thrilling 41-39 victory for the Mavericks. Meanwhile, the showpiece international clash between the Pro Kabaddi All Stars and the host nation's Aussie Raiders saw the All Stars emerge victorious with a commanding 46-28 scoreline.
The PKL Melbourne Raid's opening match began with strong defensive displays before Saurabh Nandal's Super Raid gave the PKL All Star Masters an early lead. However, the PKL Mavericks responded with an ALL OUT, powered by two-point raids from Ajay Thakur and Pardeep Narwal. Despite this, the momentum shifted when Maninder Singh's Super Raid inflicted an All-Out on the Mavericks, giving the Masters a 22-19 lead at half-time.
The second half saw Pardeep Narwal showcase his prowess with a Super Raid, helping the Mavericks close the gap. Though the Masters briefly regained the lead through Jai Bhagwan's Super Raid, Pardeep Narwal's Super 10 performance proved decisive. Despite late drama threatening to swing the match, the Mavericks held on to secure a thrilling 41-39 victory, keeping the fans at the John Cain Arena on the edge of their seats.
In the second match, it took the Pro Kabaddi All Stars just three and a half minutes to inflict an All-Out on the Aussie Raiders, but Benny Gowers tackled Pardeep Narwal, getting the Australian team to four points on the board. The fifth point for the Aussie Raiders was won by Brett Deledio, with a running hand touch on Saurabh Nandal. By then, the score read 9-24 at the end of the first half.
In a bid to get their match back on track, the Aussie Raiders inflicted an All-Out on the Pro Kabaddi All Stars after Heppel managed to get touches on Jeeva Kumar and Anup Kumar. This move reduced the deficit to 12 points.
Soon after, Maninder Singh and Sukesh Hegde contributed crucial points, whilst Rakesh Kumar and Ran Singh provided solid defensive support, helping the Pro Kabaddi All Stars maintain control throughout most of the match. Despite some impressive moments from the Aussies, including a successful All-Out led by Heppel and Billy Gowers' heroic struggle against Ran Singh, the home team's lack of experience showed in crucial moments.
The Pro Kabaddi All Stars' superior tactical awareness and raid efficiency ultimately proved decisive as they closed out a commanding 46-28 victory at John Cain Arena, with the final raid seeing Joshua Kennedy brought down on the left flank as the Pro Kabaddi All Stars went on to win by 17 points.