Patna Pirates’ 10-match unbeaten run came to a halt in front of their home crowd at the hands of defending champions U Mumba. In the first match of the day, Bengal Warriors beat Telugu Titans to do the double on last season’s semi-finalists.
Bengal Warriors snapped their 2-match losing streak with a 32-28 win over Telugu Titans on the final day of the Patna leg. Bajirao Hodage, with 8 tackle points, and Jang Kun Lee with as many points shone for the Warriors while Dharmaraj Cheralathan’s efforts (8 points) went in vain.
The first 5 minutes saw both the teams exchange blows in front of the full Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna. The Titans took a 2-point lead after Sukesh Hegde’s successful raid was complemented by tackling Lee in the resultant raid. However, Nilesh Shinde, Shrikant Jadhav and Mahesh Goud returned successfully from their raids as the Warriors won 4 straight points to overturn their deficit and lead 6-4.
In this see-saw encounter, Sukesh restored parity in the 11th minute as both teams exchanged blows till the 14th minute where the scores were tied at 7 each. Bengal Warriors inflicted the first all out of the match on the Titans in the very next minute and established a 5-point lead as the game picked pace. The half ended with Telugu Titans trailing Bengal Warriors 12-16.
HT: Bengal Warriors 16-12 Telugu Titans
A 3-point run in the second half by the Warriors got last year’s semi-finalists on the verge of an all out, but substitute Prashant Kumar Rai prevented their second all out while Shrikant Jadhav was stopped with a super tackle by the Titans. The game went into a lull period and by the 30th minute, both the teams were separated by 4 points and the Titans down to 3 men.
Just when it looked like that the Warriors would race ahead, the Titans conjured up a super tackle and in the 34th minute, it was Mahesh Goud’s turn to be the victim of a Dharmaraj Cheralathan ankle hold. South Korean Lee, however, got a hat-trick of successful raids and got last year’s semi-finalists on the verge of another all out, which was inflicted in the very next raid.
The final 2 minutes saw Rahul Chaudhari win a couple of points, but the Warriors closed out the win comfortably as the Titans were handed their second consecutive loss.
FT: Bengal Warriors 32-28 Telugu Titans
U Mumba end Patna Pirates’ unbeaten run
The match between the Warriors and Titans served as a warm-up game to the match between the defending champions, U Mumba, and the league leaders, Patna Pirates. Fazel Atrachali’s super 5 in defence and Rishank Devadiga’s 8 points ensured Rohit Kumar’s 12-point game went in vain.
The first half was a massacre of sorts for the Patna Pirates as U Mumba silenced the crowd with a scintillating display of kabaddi at the Pirates’ home ground. Anup Kumar got the ball rolling, but it was Rishank Devadiga who stole the show with a super raid in the 4th minute as the visitors raced to a 5-0 lead.
The lead kept on increasing and Pardeep Narwal was stopped in his tracks as the defending champions completed the first all out of the match to lead 9-2 by the 5th minute. Both the teams swapped points for the next five minutes before Rishank got into the action once again. With 4 points in his 2 raids, Rishank reduced the home team to just 2 men on the mat.
U Mumba’s stars carried the confidence gained from a successful South Asian Games campaign and completed another all out on the home team in the 16th minute. The home crowd was left stunned as the men in green suffered another all out as U Mumba led by a massive 15 points (22-7). They closed out the half leading 23-9 as the Patna Pirates stared at their first defeat of the season.
HT: Patna Pirates 9-23 U Mumba
The first major action of the second half saw Rohit Kumar deliver a super in the 24th minute as he reduced his team’s deficit to 12 points. Anup Kumar won a point for the defending champions, but Rishank’s unsuccessful raid cancelled that out while Deepak Narwal was tackled as the game reached the 30-minute mark with the home team trailing by 13 points.
Rohit Kumar put doubts in the visitors’ minds when he conjured up an unlikely super raid and got U Mumba on the verge of an all out, which was completed in the very next raid. This 7-point run by the Pirates reduced their deficit to just 7 points with 5 minutes to go in the match. Rohit made it a 6-point game with 2 minutes to go as the home crowd sensed a dramatic comeback.
However, the wily Anup Kumar and Rishank Devadiga made the most of their raids and slowed the pace of the game to ensure they got their revenge on the Pirates, who had beaten them by 14 points early in the tournament.
FT: Patna Pirates 28-34 U Mumba
The league will now move to Jaipur for the 6th leg of the third season of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi where Season 1 winners Jaipur Pink Panthers will look to climb into the top 4.
