PKL 9 Day 35 live updates: Patna Pirates vs Tamil Thalaivas

07:30 PM: Hello and welcome to Khel Now’s live update of Day 35 of PKL season 9.

Patna Pirates vs Tamil Thalaivas

Tamil Thalaivas and Patna Pirates clash in the opening match of a double-header Wednesday. The Thalaivas lost their last encounter against Bengaluru Bulls in the southern derby (34-40). The game was even-stevens till the last ten minutes but under pressure, Tamil Thalaivas made many errors costing them the match. Narender as usual scored another Super 10 and is having an excellent outing in his maiden PKL season.

Patna Pirates suffered their first defeat in the Pune Leg against U Mumba (23-36) in a one-sided encounter. Sachin Tawar had an off-game, but none of the other raiders could take up the responsibility and score points except Rohit Gulia who is making a comeback after a small injury. 

Head-to-Head

Tamil Thalaivas and Patna Pirates have faced each other 11 times in the Pro Kabaddi League. Patna Pirates have won six matches whereas Tamil Thalaivas has come out victorious on three occasions with two matches ending in a tie.

Player to watch

Sunil has had a good season in the right corner position and has been in the top 10 defenders list on a consistent basis. In the last encounter, Narender couldn’t score a single point from the left flank and was tackled successively by Saurabh Nandal and ultimately slowing down the pace. Similarly, Sunil needs to stop Narender and keep him off the bench to take the upper hand.

Sahil Gulia after a good start to PKL season 9 has not performed to his best with too many unsuccessful tackles. Sachin Tawar is the only experienced raider to score points consistently and Sahil will have his task cut out to silence Sachin. If the left-corner defenders succeeds then the southern side will have the upper hand.

Dabang Delhi vs UP Yoddhas

Dabang Delhi KC face UP Yoddhas in the second match of a double header Wednesday. Delhi lost by a 25-point margin against Jaipur Pink Panthers in the last encounter (57-32) which is one of their worst defeats in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) history. Vijay Malik played the first match of PKL season 9 and scored a Super 10. He continued in a similar fashion to where he left from the last season.

UP Yoddhas won a good battle against Telugu Titans (41-30). Surinder Gill and Sumit scored Super 10 and high-five respectively in a one-sided battle. A win against Dabang Delhi KC will make them move ahead in the points table and occupy a place in the top four.

Head-to-Head

Dabang Delhi KC and UP Yoddhas have faced each other eight times in the Pro Kabaddi League. Dabang Delhi KC have won three matches, whereas UP Yoddhas has come out victorious on five occasions.

Player to watch 

Vijay Malik will be the player to watch out for after making an excellent comeback from injury. In the previous season, he has been a good all-rounder scoring points in the defence as well. With Dabang Delhi’s defensive unit showing no signs of improvement, it is time for Vijay to take over and motivate them who seem to have lost all their confidence.

Surender Gill and Pardeep Narwal will look to exploit Dabang Delhi’s defence. All the defenders scored more unsuccessful tackles than the total points they scored in the last encounter against Jaipur. UP Yoddhas should make use of this opportunity and look to attack the cover defenders who have been more aggressive and have lost points.