UP edges out Patna in PKL nail-biter

UP Yoddha edged out Patna Pirates 36-35 in the last move of the match to clinch a thrilling win in the Pro Kabaddi Season 8 here on Saturday.

Patna thought that it had managed to claw its way back to a tie in the final move of the contest when it tackled Surender Gill, but the UP raider ensured he got a bonus point to earn his team a nail-biting victory. Raiding sensation Pardeep Narwal, who spent five seasons at Pirates, was the top-scorer for Yoddha with 12 points while defender Sumit contributed a match-winning 6 points.

Pardeep got off to a flier, picking up two bonus points in his first two raids, and followed them up with a two-point raid. A three-point raid by Shrikant Jadhav in the 10th minute reduced Patna to just two men on the mat. But, Pirates all-rounder Sachin (10 points) clinched an important raid point and then delivered a ‘Super Tackle’.

Patna made a stellar comeback with four ‘Super Tackles’, courtesy of defenders Mohammadreza Chiyaneh (7 points) and Sajin, to lead 20-12 at the interval. But, UP turned the match on its head by inflicting the first ‘All Out’ in the 10th minute of the second period.

Yoddha managed to maintain its narrow advantage for a while, thanks to the Pirates defence which made a few mistakes. However, Patna made it a one-point game, with UP having to go through a ‘Do-or-Die’ raid in the last move of the fixture. In another match, Puneri Paltan pipped Telugu Titans 34-33.

Substitute raider Mohit Goyat (9 points) and Aslam Inamdar (8 points) together collected half of Puneri’s points, which proved crucial. Siddharth Desai bagged 15 points for Titans, but received little support from his teammates.