Hello and welcome to the highlights of the Pro Kabaddi League contests at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium in Kolkata.
(Scores read Bengal Warriors - Patna Pirates)
While Bengal Warriors has booked its berth in the play-offs, the Patna Pirates' campaign is in trouble. UP Yoddha could advance to the play-offs at Patna's expense if it manages to defeat the Warriors in its next match on December 26.
39-23: That's the win for the Bengal Warriors! The home side puts up an outstanding effort to defeat three-time champion Patna Pirates and seal a spot in the play-offs.
37-21: Pardeep, who averaged over 15 points against the Bengal Warriors, has had a terrible run tonight. He's picked up all of five points so far and the Pirates now trails by 16 points.
36-17: This Bengal Warriors defence is something else! The defence has been absolutely stunning tonight and has claimed 14 tackle points so far - nearly thrice the number the Patna defence has managed to claim.
33-17: ALL OUT! It's Maninder again and he gets a touch on both Patna defenders to inflict a second All Out. And adding to it is the fact that the raid helps Maninder to a Super 10 for the night!
27-17: There's no getting past Surjeet! He stalls Vijay with a well-timed back hold.
24-17: A poor tackle from Baldev sees Vijay run away with a point and reduce the Warriors' lead to seven points.
22-14: Super sub Vijin Thangadurai! He comes in and gets the prized scalp of Pardeep Narwal with an excellent ankle hold to earn his side two crucial points.
20-13: Pardeep gets back on the court and starts the second half well with a point on his first raid.
18-11: That's the end of the first half. The Bengal Warriors' defence has done extremely well to put the Patna Pirates on the backfoot and Maninder Singh has been lethal up front to lead the raiding department.
18-10: Maninder is at it again! He gets a touch on Vikas Kale and extends Bengal Warriors' lead to eight points.
Pardeep Narwal has scored more than 10 points in four of the five previous games against Bengal Warriors. Will we see another super show from him tonight?
15-8: Patna's defence finally joins the party as it combines well to stop Maninder and win its second point of the evening.
13-6: ALL OUT! The home side inflicts the first All Out of the match and leaps to a seven-point lead within 10 minutes of the start.
8-4: The Warriors are awarded a Technical Point as Patna Pirates coach Ram Meher Singh is given a yellow card for arguing with the unmpires.
4-4: How close was that? Pardeep wriggles out of an ankle hold and does extremely well to get his fingers over the centre line but the umpire fails to notice it! Pardeep's team-mates also don't see it and the Pirates miss out on a Super Raid opportunity.
4-3: Maninder is taken down by a lovely ankle hold from Vikas Jaglan.
1-2: And Pardeep jumps into the action, quite literally. He goes for his trademark dubki move and then leaps over a defender to win two points off his first raid!
1-0: Maninder begins the proceedings, he claims a bonus point.
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The home side would be hoping to flay the defending champion riding on the Bengali support. A crucial fixture for both the teams, a win would see the Warriors climb up to Zone B second place. A victory for the visitor, on the other hand, would place it only five points ahead of Telugu Titans.
The two teams last met in Mumbai in a one-sided contest which saw the Pirates amass 50 points an take away the game with a 20-point margin.
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Head-to-head: Patna Pirates 9-2 Bengal Warriors. 3 ties.
Stats from the last five matches –
Average Points Scored – 30.4
Average Points Conceded – 29.6
Best Raider- Maninder Singh
Best Defender – PO Surjeet Singh
Stats from the last five matches –
Average Points Scored – 37.4
Average Points Conceded – 41.8
Best Raider – Pardeep Narwal
Best Defender – Jaideep
The big battle –
Maninder Singh vs. Pardeep Narwal
Key Players -
PO Surjeet Singh – Bengal Warriors
Jaideep – Patna Pirates
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34-32 FULL-TIME: It couldn't be more unlucky an ending for Mumba here as Abolfazl twists his right ankle in the last raid of the match, eight seconds on the clock. As he groans in pain the Yoddha fans celebrate. Mumba shouldn't have to worry much considering it is safe in the Playoffs already but there is an addition to the injury list, ladies and gentlemen!
34-32 PRASHAAAANTH! The last raid takes the side to 34. Eight seconds to go in the contest now and float in crucial two points. WOW! Devadiga jumps up in joy.
31-31 No idea what Gholamrez, Mumba head coach spoke about but that definitely worked. Reviews absent, three points gets reduced to two as Balliyan gets the leveller with a whole trip of the other court. The point denied could count as the difference? Time will tell.
31-28 Two-and-half minutes and one point for Mumba's fiery defensive unit. This is turning out to be a thriller of a match.
30-28 That was real quick! Not even three seconds and it was Darshan Kadian who brought home a point from Narender. Expect a firework finish on the mat today.
Time for a revenge? The only other ocassion when these two sides clashed with each other this season, Mumba won it by 17 points.
30-27 Timeout taken and as evident UP Yoddha would want to feed on whatever is available here. A must-win this is.
30-26 Balliyan just short of the bonus line tags Jeeva. You cannot just write Mumba off can you?
27-24 DO-or-DIE. Darshan Kadian has been made to choose the second alternative. Narender's second tackle point comes with a double thigh hold. Man, doesn't he look all fired up!
26-24 Rishank Devadiga stealing bonuses now. Works, I guess as long as you maintain the lead!
25-24 An official timeout has been taken with a little less than ten minutes on the clock.
24-24 Desai's absence puts the pressure on Rohit Balliyan who gifts a freebie to the opponent.
Siddharth Desai is nursing an injured shoulder here. He clearly looks to be in discomfort and that is bad news for U Mumba!
22-22 DO-or-DIE! Abolfazl needs to pick up a point here. Dashes for Sachin on the left, but, but, but, look who sends him packing. Jeeva Kumar with a tremendous ankle hold gets a pat on the back from his teammates.
21-20 A chain tackle takes care of Rishank Devadiga. Mostly warming the benches, not his night for sure!
20-15 SUUUUPER TACKLE to start the proceedings! Rishank is enjoying it from the bench. Abolfazl is the victim again as Nitesh sees him off with a superb tackle.
It is a game which UP Yoddha needs to win and the first-half has gone its way. It needs to continue with the rhythm.
SECOND HALF
18-15 Why? Why would Prashanth waste a review like that? An absolutely unnecessary move. Prashanth claims a bonus point alright, but he claimed that he had pocketed two touch points. Replay, though, suggested otherwise. Two touches, one player. That's it for the first-half ladies and gentlemen. The contest has pretty much been balanced with Desai mostly invisible in the first half. It has mostly been Balliyan and a few others with the points.
16-14 Rohit Balliyan denies Yoddha a Super Tackle as he swats the right-corner like a fly.
14-10 OUT! Rohit Balliyan gets the toe touch and sees off Nitesh the second time tonight. Nitesh doesn't believe it.
14-9 Rohit Balliyan gets a running hand touch from the left corner. Easy pickings!
8-8 The leveller! The whole of the Yoddha defence pounces on Arjun Deshwal who has no way out of that trap.
5-8 U Mumba inflicts a Super Tackle on the Yoddha. And this time it was Surinder again with the magic wand! Excellent defensive work which was well-supported by Dharmaraj as Rishank takes the walk to the bench.
3-4 The Kolkata crowd goes "Rishank! Rishank!" for the poster boy who comes back with an empty raid. Plenty of support for the Yoddhas here.
2-3 Abolfazl walks in to a 1 vs 5. AND WOW! That's brave! Sachin Kumar, the left-corner commits and takes down the burly Iranian, unsupported, single-handedly!
0-2 Rana and Surinder floor Prashant who tries to steal a bonus and escape. No, not this time!
The first step of UP Yoddhas should be unsettling both Atrachali and Surinder early in the game to give its defence a chance to shine.
FIRST HALF
It's UP Yoddha which will raid first.
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U Mumba would have the top spot in mind as it gets ready to clash with the Yoddhas at the Inter-Zone Wild Card fixture.
UP Yoddha, meanwhile, will be hoping to grab a victory to stay in contention for the Playoffs.
The two sides previously met in Mumbai this season, with U Mumba emerging winner by 17 points.
Head-to-head: U Mumba 2-0 U.P. Yoddha
Stats from the last five matches –
Average Points Scored – 37.4
Average Points Conceded – 26.8
Best Raider – Siddharth Desai
Best Defender – Fazel Atrachali
Stats from the last five matches –
Average Points Scored – 31.2
Average Points Conceded – 28.4
Best Raider – Shrikant Jadhav
Best Defender – Nitesh Kumar
The big battle
Siddharth Desai vs Nitesh Kumar
Key Players -
Surender Singh – U Mumba
Shrikant Jadhav – U.P. Yoddha
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