The match on 26th of November in Patliputra Sports complex in Patna was a power-packed battle between defending champions Patna Pirates and first season winners Jaipur Pink Panthers. On the home leg of Pro Kabaddi League 2018, Patna Pirates once again proved their mettle by delivering a crushing defeat to the Panthers. The astounding teamwork by the raiders and defenders of the Pirates earned them a whopping 11 point lead and 41-30 victory against the Panthers. Here are some of the most vicious and fierce plays made by the Pirates that secured their win in this match:
Narwal draws first blood
Patna Pirates skipper and arguably one of the top raiders in the League, Pardeep Narwal did not hesitate to show that he was there to win. Early on in the match, Narwal alone upped the Pirates’ score against the steadily gaining Panthers with a well-executed super raid. He made the score 6-5 in favour of the Patna Pirates. Adding another super to his name quickly after his first one, he led the score to 11-8. Narwal was a force of nature on the court and the opposition did not stand a chance against him.
Power packed defence against Ajinkya Panwar
Pirates defence that was under fire for weak performance, pulled through to stop a do-or-die raid from the opposition at the end moment. Ajinkya Panwar of Jaipur Pink Panthers had almost succeeded a very difficult raid but fell prey to the defenders of Pirates who pushed him out of the playing field. It was a great display of teamwork and maintained the lead of 15-9.
Anup Kumar, the ace in Pirates’ sleeve
Anup Kumar may not be the star player of this match but his contribution to Pirates’ win is undeniable. A strong defensive player in this match, Kumar showed great form plus strategy and not caught once during raiding in the whole match. After halftime with scores 22-15 on Patna’s side, it was a moment to cherish when Jaipur team put their full effort in a super tackle and yet he escaped without contact. He even earned the Pirates some tackle points in the team effort and a single point by himself.
Pardeep Narwal’s fiery streak of raids
Narwal, now known as the “Dubki King” and “Virat Kohli of Kabaddi”, led the team by example. With multiple successful raids, Narwal executed another athletic raid that made his total raid points to be 10. With another Super 10 achieved in this match, Narwal has the highest number of Super 10s under his belt in the league. Narwal scored another point in his subsequent raids and his total score rose to 11 raid points, half of the 22 total raid points scored by Patna Pirates in this match.
The fall of Panthers
While the Pirates took their initial advantage up to their victory, the fall of Jaipur Pink Panthers got set in stone when Mohit Chillar fell prey to a strong tackle by the Pirates defenders. The home crowd was going wild in Patna when Chillar was taken down, buried under almost the whole of Pirates’ defence players. It made for a great show for the spectators. Mohit Chillar was also part of the corner defence duo with Sandeep Dhull, who gave away a lot of points from their 10 unsuccessful tackles against the whirlwind raiders.
The 33rd match of this season of Pro Kabaddi League was much anticipated. Pirates proved once again why they are the defending champions. After this win, Patna Pirates have moved up to the second rank in their zone while Jaipur Pink Panthers are at the bottom.
With explosive matches lined up in this leg of the tournament, Pro Kabaddi League 2018 is going to get even more exciting. Stay tuned for more!