PKL 9 Day 15 Live Updates: UP Yoddhas vs Tamil Thalaivas

07:30: Hello and welcome to Khel Now’s live update of Day 15 of PKL season 9.

Bengaluru Bulls vs Patna Pirates

Patna Pirates won their first game of PKL season 9 defeating the heavyweights and reigning champions Dababng Delhi KC in a close contest. Dabang Delhi was unbeaten in their first five matches but Patna broke the run and went on to win their first match. Rohit Gulia and Sachin were the stars scoring 11 and 9 points respectively. Patna Pirates will play Bengaluru Bulls in their next PKL 9 game.

Bengaluru Bulls won the last match against U Mumba after trailing by eight points at one point  (18-25) but went on to dominate from there on to win comfortably by a ten-point margin (42-32). Bharat was once again the star performer for Bengaluru Bulls scoring 16 raid points. Both Patna and Bengaluru will be high on confidence going into tomorrow’s match.

Head to Head

Bengaluru Bulls and Patna Pirates have faced each other 19 times in the Pro Kabaddi League out of which, Bengaluru Bulls have won 5 whereas Patna Pirates have come out victorious on 12 occasions with two matches ending in a tie.

Key to Success

Like the last encounter against Dabang Delhi KC, the Patna Pirates raiding duo of Rohit Gulia and Sachin need to operate well simultaneously having already lost four matches in the first six encounters. With the matches coming thick and fast the duo need to remain consistent. Chiyaneah has looked good only in patches and his performance isn't the same as the last season. The experienced corner defender needs to step up along with the others like Sajin who too was retained from the last season.

Mahender Singh and Saurabh Nandal were good at the start of the league but their performance has gone down match by match. Mahender Singh the cover specialist in particular is not having a good time on the mat. In the last game against U Mumba, he could score only a single tackle point. The defence needs to work better and combine to score tackle points. 

UP Yoddhas vs Tamil Thalaivas

Tamil Thalaivas again has started the season on a poor note winning only once in the five matches played along with three losses and a tie. The injury to Pawan Sehrawat has hurt the southern side more due to the lack of experienced players on the mat. In the last match against Bengaluru Bulls, Tamil Thalaivas lost by a huge 15+ points margin with none of the players taking responsibility. Tamil Thalaivas will next face UP Yoddhas in PKL 9.

UP Yoddhas are coming off a defeat against Gujarat Giants in a high-scoring encounter (45-51). Pardeep Narwal and Surender Gill both scored super 10s with 17 and 14 points respectively. The raiding has improved by a great margin for the UP Yoddhas side with Pardeep getting back to his original form that he showcased a few seasons ago.

Head to Head

Tamil Thalaivas and UP Yoddhas have faced each other in 10 matches in the Pro Kabaddi League out of which, Tamil Thalaivas have won three matches whereas UP Yoddhas have come out victorious on four occasions with three matches ending in a tie.

Key to Success

For Tamil Thalaivas the defenders need to step up against Pardeep and Surender Gill. If both the raiders are kept quiet then the southern side will hold a huge advantage. The defence has not been good for the past few matches but needs to step up for them to win this crucial encounter.

The strong defence of UP Yoddhas did not perform well in the last encounter against Gujarat Giants. Both Chandran Ranjith and Rakesh Kumar scored super 10s with 20 and 16 raid points respectively. The corner duo of Sumit and Nitesh have not been at their best with only Ashu performing well in the covers. It is time for captain Nitesh Kumar to step up.