Patna Pirates managed to resist a mid-game revival scare from U.P. Yoddha to register a 37-35 win in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 match on Wednesday. The Pirates, led by Prashanth Kumar Rai went into this match sans Monu Goyat, who was rested. However, his absence was not felt as Sachin Tanwar stepped up to score 12 points.
The Patna defense continued to enhance its reputation with Mohammadreza Chiyaneh stealing the limelight with another High 5 to his name.
Both teams surprised fans with the team sheets even before the contest started as the lead raiders of both sides were on the bench at the start of the game. U.P. decided to not have out-of-form Pardeep Narwal in their starting 7 while Patna had decided to rest Monu Goyat as well.
With both Pardeep and Monu on the bench, the pressure was on the other raiders to step up and get the points. In the first few minutes of the match, Pardeep’s absence was negated by Surender Gill who scored two points on his first two raids.
Following that, Sachin Tanwar turned the tide of the match. He first eliminated Gill through a touchpoint. This proved brief as Shrikant Jadhav revived him with a successful raid of his own. Patna followed this up with a successful tackle on Gill.
With both their top raiders off the mat, the danger of an all-out loomed large on the Yoddha. They were reduced to one man on the mat in the 11th minute when Sachin put in a two-point raid. The last man standing, Ashu Singh, was substituted by Sahil, who was tackled, resulting in an all-out in the 12th minute.
Patna’s defence was working brilliantly and even Sajin C, the aggressive defender, was contributing to his team’s effort. U.P. skipper Nitesh, on the other hand, had four failed tackles in the first half.
The Yoddha were in danger of conceding a second all-out in the first half itself. They had just three players left on the mat when Sachin went in for a do-or-die raid. However, a desperate super tackle breathed life back in the game. Gill then scored a two-pointer to reduce the gap between the teams further. The first half ended with the score reading 20-15 in Patna’s favour.
The game then turned the Yoddha’s way initially in the second half. Surender picked up another two-pointer and Prashanth Kumar Rai had to make his way back to the bench as well. This reduced Patna to just one man and they were all-out in the second minute of the second half.
After that, the game slowed down with both sides playing cautiously and the Yoddha outfit then took the lead thanks to Sumit Sangwan who put in a powerful tackle.
A critical moment arrived at the beginning of the final 10 minutes of the match when both teams had do-or-die raids. While Surender failed in his attempt, Sachin proved successful. The tide of the game turned again and Patna took the lead with the score reading 29-28.
Sachin shines as the raider completes his Super 10 against the U.P Yoddha
Sachin continued his skillful raiding and U.P. were once again reduced to one man with five minutes remaining. That lone man was substituted with Pardeep Narwal, who got his first opportunity in the match. However, his first raid wasn’t good enough to save his side as they suffered their second all-out of the match and trailed 29-33.
Pardeep remained on the mat as U.P. sought a late revival. However, with Gill failing in his first raid after the second all-out, a win seemed even more distant. There was a brief revival of hopes for the U.P. side when Pardeep got two points on his second raid of the match.
Chiyaneh brilliantly tackled Gill and Pardeep’s third raid failed in the final minute sealing the game for the Pirates. They ended up winning 37-35 and remained in the third spot in the standings with 50 points with just one point separating them from the second-placed Bengaluru Bulls.
The fact that Patna was able to win without Monu Goyat shows the quality of their reserves and the remaining sides in the tournament will certainly be taking note of Patna’s prowess as they continue to remain favorites in this tournament.