The performance of Patna Pirates is surpassing all expectations as the team has now won three out of the four matches. The team successfully won its victory over the defending champions, Bengal Warriors. Patna Pirates indeed ended the year with a bang by winning the second successive match on Friday, 31st December. The team won by 43-29, pushing itself to the second position in the points table while Bengal Warriors took its place in the eighth rank.
Bengal Warriors began the match with a really fine start as captain Maninder Singh maintained his pace in great form. He picked up all possible points and specifically performed well in the right corner as he got to Mohammedreza Chiyaneh in different moments. By eliminating Chiyaneh and Monu, he managed to make his team lead by 11-9 in a single raid. The defending champion also achieved a super 10, and by halftime, the Warriors were at a lead with 21-16. However, in the second half, the Bengal Warriors failed to make their space as Patna Pirates made a spectacular comeback to the game. As Monu and Sachin began to pick points up, the warriors ran out of alternatives and struggled every time they had to send their captain back to the bench.
Another prominent point of this match is, Monu Goyat scored his 500th raid point of PKL and moved ahead to further gain a seven-point raid. It led to his team leading with a massive 14 point at 39-25. Hence, making Patna Pirates confirm its victory.
Let us further gain a deeper insight into the game.
The Pirates began with a boom as Sachin & Prashanth picked up raid points. However, the Warriors’ Maninder Singh made his pace to ensure a splendid performance. He ended up overpowering all defensive moves with every passing raid. Undoubtedly, Maninder managed to give the Pirates a hard time in the first half. While Pirates’ defensive ideas seemed in place in the beginning, Maninder came up to help his team score well.
From Mohammadreza Chiyaneh and Monu Goyat to Prashanth Kumar Rai, he sent them all back to gain a four-point lead. As the process kept going, Monu and Sachin attempted to bring Patna Pirates back in form by attaining bonus points and running touches. However, Bengal Warriors ended up with a lead of 21-16 at half-time.
Moving ahead to the second half, the Warriors enhanced their defensive strategies as Amit tackled Sachin with the move of the thigh hold. Pirates gradually attempted to come back in the game with the performance of Neeraj Kumar and Monu Goyat, who achieved his 500th PKL raid point. Kumar leveled up his defensive game, tackling Bengal’s Rishank Devadiga while Monu gave his best in picking raids & scoring a bonus point.
It was one moment of failure when Maninder stepped out of the mat and gave Pirates an outlet. This was when the game became all about Patna Pirates as they matched the scores at 25-25. The team began by taking a four-point lead as Sachin inflicted an all-out on the Bengal Warriors. It was Monu Goyat who further added to the fun of the game with a splendid seven-point raid as Pirates gained a lead of 14-point at 39-25. Not just this but Goyat also scored a super 10. The lead increased with each passing raid and Patna Pirates proved their power over the game, winning its third match of the league.