Patna Pirates beats Bengaluru Bulls by 25 points
The Patna Pirates raiders started in their usual swift manner, with Lohchab leading the charge this time around.
Action during Bengaluru Bulls and Patna Pirates match in the PKL
NOIDA: Patna Pirates was back to its usual groove as it secured an extremely impressive 54–29 over Bengaluru Bulls at the Noida Indoor Stadium on Saturday. It was the raiding duo of Devank Dalal — the green-sleeve holder with 164 points to his name — and Ayan Lohchab who ruled the roost yet again with their Super 10s but Shubham Shinde’s High 5 played an equally important role in the team’s excellent victory.
The Patna Pirates raiders started in their usual swift manner, with Lohchab leading the charge this time around. However, the Bulls were hot on the heels of their opponents, as Pardeep Narwal and Nitin Rawal kept the team competitive in the raiding and defensive departments respectively.
Pardeep turned back the clock with a brilliant ‘Dubki’ that got Arkam Shaikh off the mat, as the crowd roared their support. 12 minutes into the game, Jai Bhagwan evaded a five-man defence and escaped a dash from Deepak on the right cover.
However, after this small blip, the Pirates turned up the heat in the final six minutes of the first half.
Jai Bhagwan and Lucky Kumar were caught by Devank as the Pirates inflicted an ALL OUT on the Bulls with six minutes remaining in the first half. Ayan completed a Super 10 with a Super Raid, and the score read 22-12 at the end of the first half.
Two minutes into the second half, a second ALL OUT was inflicted on the Bulls after Jai Bhagwan was caught by Ankit Jaglan. Just when it looked like another big win for the Pirates, the Bulls began working their way back. Lucky Kumar got Devank to earn a Super Tackle, and then Pardeep showed why he is the PKL’s record-breaker with an excellent Super Raid that got Gurdeep, Thiyagarajan Yuvaraj and Ayan, reducing the Pirates to three players on the mat.
Although it seemed like the Bulls would work their way back, the Pirates held their cool. Devank Dalal slowly worked his way to another Super 10 this season, while Shubham Shinde won a Super Tackle against the mighty Pardeep. A third ALL OUT in the final minute of the summed up the game for the Bulls as the three-time PKL winner – Patna Pirates – secured a huge 25-point victory.
