Pune, Dec 17 (IANS): The Jaipur Pink Panthers were in deep trouble when they were trailing 8-18 at the end of the first half against Patna Pirates, however, V. Ajith Kumar turned out the hero as they came back to score a victory. On Sunday, V. Ajith Kumar helped the Panthers score 21 points in the second half and clinch a thrilling 29-28 victory and skipper Sunil Kumar was all praise for his effort.

When asked about his team's performance, Jaipur Pink Panthers' captain Sunil Kumar said, "Ajith Kumar changed the game for us in the second half. He helped us attain the momentum in our favour.

"Going into the second period, we knew that we had to bank on our raiders to reduce the gap since only they could collect 3-4 points on one raid. And Ajith Kumar stood up for us under pressure," he said.

The Jaipur Pink Panthers took a time-out when they were leading by three points with just 31 seconds left on the clock.

Speaking about the details which were discussed during the time out, the captain said, "We planned to stop them from picking up a raid point in the dying minutes of the game and we managed to do that. Once we had stopped them from scoring a raid point, we knew that we could win the game even if we carried out an empty raid."

Sunil Kumar further added, "The team's morale is high right now. A win always gives a team confidence. We'll play even better against U.P. Yoddhas and win that game as well."

The Gujarat Giants will be hoping to bounce back into form after facing defeats against Patna Pirates and Jaipur Pink Panthers in their last two games, however, their opponents in their next match - Haryana Steelers have recorded victories in three consecutive matches. The Steelers will bank on raider Vinay, meanwhile, raider Sonu will be the one to watch out for in the Giants' camp.