PKL 9 Day 5 live updates: Patna Pirates vs Telugu Titans

Hello and Welcome to Khel Now's live updates of day 5 of PKL 9.

Haryana Steelers vs Tamil Thalaivas

Haryana Steelers scored an important win against Bengal Warriors in their opening encounter of the PKL 9 season. The defence operated well even in the absence of Bastami and the experienced Joginder Narwal in the corner positions. Tamil Thalaivas will be without their leading raider and season’s costliest player due to an injury. The performance did not let the performance go down and tied the match against Gujarat Giants in the opening match playing fearlessly. 

Head to Head:

Both Haryana Steelers and Tamil Thalaivas have won only two matches each in their seven encounters. Both have played out three tied matches more than the number of wins. Only Haryana and Tamil Thalaivas have more ties than victories in the history of PKL.

Player to watch:

Manjeet Singh from Haryana Steelers will be up against his former team Tamil Thalaivas and will play a crucial role. Manjeet scored 18 raid points which are more than 90 percent of the total raid points scored by Haryana Steelers in their opening encounter against Bengal Warriors.

Patna Pirates vs Telugu Titans

Telugu Titans are coming into this encounter after a humiliating defeat against the Bengal Warriors and have not won a match in PKL 9. They lost the opening encounter against Bengaluru Bulls which was a closely contested contest. Whereas, Patna Pirates will come into the game after losing to Jaipur Pink Pathers in Match 7 of PKL 9.

Patna Pirates have won and lost a match each and will look to be consistent like the last season when they finished 1st in the points table after the league stages.

Head to Head

Both teams have won an equal number of matches (9) in the 18 matches they have played in the PKL. But the Patna Pirates have not lost in a single match in the last four encounters since season 7 winning 3 games and a tie.

Player to watch

Vinay was brought in as a substitute late in the match against Bengal Warriors but made an impact in the limited opportunity scoring 8 points. With Rajnish not available due to an injury, the Titans will have to rely on Abhishek Singh and Monu Goyat to perform after the latter was left out of the starting 7 in the last encounter. 

Rohit Gulia was back to form after shifting flanks from Haryana Steelers scoring a super 10 against the Jaipur Pink Panthers in the last season. He will also play a vital role in the defence during the super tackle situations and play a supportive role to Sachin.