Pro Kabaddi: Pardeep Narwal guides Patna Pirates to fourth straight win

So dominating were the winners that they managed to get an all-out in the 17th minute of play courtesy Pardeep who produced a super-duper raid worth 6 points. He got four rivals including the super duo of Rahul Chaudhari and Dharmaraj Cheralathan which catapulted his side to a healthy 18-11 lead by half-time. Rajesh’s contribution was 4 points to Pradeep’s 8 in the first half.

On the defending side, the Patna Pirates managed just two points, and their opponents too did not fare well in that department. Left corner Sunil, who so far had done well, failed on all four occasions while attempting blocks. But the inability of the Telugu Titans to check the Patna Pirates raiders helped even things out. In fact, there was only one tackle point recorded by Meraj Sheykh in the first half for the Telugu Titans.

The Titans attack also lacked teeth with Rahul scoring just 4 and Sukesh Hegde contributing only 2 points. Substitute Prashant Kumar Rai got 2 points towards the end of the half to get double digits on the scoreboard.

Patna Pirates, after an attacking first half, switched their strategy to concentrate on defence after resumption. With their rivals too needing to attack, laying traps for them was easy. Vinod Kumar was at his best stopping Prashant Kumar Rai and Sukesh Hegde to put his side further up at 21-13 by the 25th minute.

Telugu Titans did try to stage a comeback through some spirited display by Sukesh Hegde but that wasn’t enough as Rahul who was becoming ineffective had to be substituted. That was the helplessness of the losing coach Ramesh Bhendigiri, an astute tactician otherwise.

The Patna Pirates were staring at an all-out as Sanjeev Baliyan withdrew his captain Manpreet Singh for Deepak Narwal and he responded brilliantly. He got a point with a hand touch on Cheralathan to turn the tide and with five minutes left and the score 26-21, all that the winners had to do was hang on to the lead which they did admirably. 

Report Courtesy: PKL Media