Season 8 of the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League brought a lot of enticement & hopefulness amongst both the team of Patna Pirates and its fans. However, the hopefulness and motivation while starting a new season with fresh coordination & strategy brought colors and turned out to be extremely worth it for the team.
Patna Pirates began season 8 of PKL by winning the first match itself, proving that the fire to break all records still exists. The first match of the team held on 23rd Dec was against Haryana Steelers in Whitefield, Bengaluru. The match was undoubtedly worth a watch as both the teams gave their all to make the best out of their opening game of the season. Let’s dive deeper into the fun and exciting proceedings of the match.
Monu Goyat played an enthralling turn with a glowing 15-point display while Sachin ensured to not stay behind by a couple of clutch raids. The best part is that the players turned the tables in the last moments of falling hopes and led Patna Pirates to a thrilling win over Haryana Steelers with a point differential of 42-39. Not just Sachin and Monu, but the entire team attempted at giving their best throughout the match. Rohit Gulia concluded with a Super 10 for the Patna Pirates, Surender Nada collected a High 5 for the Haryana Steelers.
The match began with both the teams scoring in flurries. Vikash Konda of the Haryana Steelers began with a high-spirited start and helped his team lead with a point update of 4-1. By then, the team got reduced down to having just three points on the table. However, a little mistake from newbie Meetu Mahender led to Sachin from Patna Pirates winning three easy points, taking the lead in the game.
The captain of the winning team, Prashanth Kumar Rai, brought four points with two raids and led the Haryana Steelers with just two players on the mat. But the game instantly pivoted in the favor of the Patna Pirates after a super tackle twist from Surender Nada and a super raid of four points from Rohit Gulia, leaving the team with just two on the mat. The losing team’s defense and Kandola seamlessly moved them both, leading to their team’s all-out which was the first all-out of the game. The first half ended with both sides scoring four points in the last three minutes and Haryana Steelers were leading 22-15.
In the second half, the situation became unpredictable as Monu Goyat began with his spotless raiding. He added four points to the tally. The Pirates’ defense of Pirates pinned the raider to lead to an All-Out with a one-point lead. Goyat further added three additional points to his tally. Beginning with an exceptional ankle hold on Kandola, he took a two-point raid immediately, completing his Super 10, helping the Pirates in taking a six-point lead. It is exactly when the enticement leveled up!
Haryana Steelers managed to get two super tackles to which Goyat responded with a super raid, leaving Haryana with a single player on the mat. However, he managed to get a touchpoint, reviving Surender Nada, who super tackled to reduce the Pirate’s lead to just one. But an extremely vital tackle from the Patna Pirates’ team defense enabled their side to gain a two-point lead in the match. With less than 30 seconds left to change the game, Gulia made a point for his team to leave enough time for the last raid attempt. The Steelers further had to pin Sachin in order to win the match. But, Sachin escaped by gaining two touchpoints, winning the game for Patna Pirates.
All in all, with an unpredictable match, the team refused to give up and ended up winning their first match of the league.