PKL 8: Haryana stun Bengal, Patna defeat Mumbai

The Steelers' defence came off good at the start of the match.

Haryana Steelers picked up their third consecutive win as they defeated Tamil Thalaivas 37-29 in Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 8 on Tuesday. It was a star-making performance from young Ashish Narwal for Haryana Steelers as he earned his first Super 10 of the season along with 3 tackle points. Ashish earned a total of 16 points for his team as Haryana Steelers picked up all five points with the win to leapfrog into the 2nd spot in the points table.

The Steelers defence came off good at the start of the match as Akshay earned a tackle point to open the scoring for the team in the 2nd minute. Moments later, Vikash Kandola and Vinay made consecutive successful raids to increase Haryana Steelers' lead to 3-1. In the 8th minute, Haryana Steelers inflicted an All Out on Tamil Thalaivas to extend their lead to 10-2.

Haryana Steelers defenders Jaideep and Akshay continued to make the most of the errors made by the opposition's raiders and in the 10th minute, extended their lead to 13-8. Tamil Thalaivas managed to close down the gap in the final few minutes and the first half ended with Haryana Steelers leading 15-12.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83GDG3UJ1EM

The second half started with Ashish Narwal earning a tackle point straightaway followed by another raid point by him, as Haryana Steelers extended their lead by 5 points. In the 24th minute, Vikash Kandola went for a do-or-die raid but missed out on earning a point as Tamil Thalaivas closed down the gap to 15-18. But Ashish Narwal earned a Super Raid in the 26th minute to again extend Haryana Steelers lead by 5 points to 21-16.

In the 32nd minute, Haryana Steelers committed a defensive error and then Tamil Thalaivas attained a Super Raid on Vikash Kandola to close down the gap to just two points. But in the 36th minute, Haryana Steelers inflicted another All-Out on Tamil Thalaivas and regained their 6-point lead to make it 31-25. With two minutes to go, Ashish managed to get a Super Raid to earn his first Super 10 of the season. In the final few seconds, Ashish earned another Super Raid as Haryana Steelers won the match 37-29.

Patna Pirates crush U Mumba

Raiders Sachin and Guman Singh helped table-toppers Patna Pirates beat U Mumba 47-36in Match 103 of PKL Season 8. Sachin (16 points) and Guman Singh (11 points) were in top form for the three-time champions as they consolidated their position on top of the points table with a comfortable victory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rvNj1DAN2o

U Mumba’s Abhishek Singh (13 points) and Ajith Kumar (11 points) got their Super 10s but the team, especially captain Fazel Atrachali, struggled to provide the support from the defence.

The high-scoring first half belonged to the Patna Pirates despite a mini-fightback by Mumbai. The Patna raiding trio of Guman Singh, Sachin and Prashanth Rai started positively and gave them an early lead. But a 3-point Super Raid by Abhishek Singh helped Mumbai recover from the pressure of an early ALL OUT. Patna were relentless in their pursuit and finally got the first ALL OUT in the 9th minute to open a massive 9-point lead.

Mumbai then showed great spirit to fight back. Ajith Kumar’s 2-point raid after the ALL OUT gave them the momentum to attack. Abhishek also contributed as they secured their first ALL OUT with 5 minutes to half time. That reduced Patna’s lead to 2, but their raider Sachin secured a stunning 5-point Super Raid to once again tilt the balance of the match. The raider got his Super 10 in the process and Patna clinched another ALL OUT with 2 minutes remaining. The scores were 26-18 at the interval with both sides looking hungry for more.

Mumbai had the advantage early in the first half, but Patna’s raiders ensured they prevented an ALL OUT. Monu then clinched a 3-point Super Raid for Patna and gave his team the momentum. U Mumba managed 2 Super Tackles on Sachin but that was not enough to prevent another ALL OUT. The Pirates maintained a 10-point lead with 10 minutes on the clock.

Ajith Kumar picked up points in consecutive raids for U Mumba as they tried to reduce the lead to under 7 points. He also got his Super 10 as Mumbai tried their best to fight back. But Patna were in no mood to concede easy points to Mumbai in their attempt to clinch a Playoff spot. Sachin secured a 3-point Super Raid in the final move of the match to ensure Mumbai walked away with no points from the encounter.

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