Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Nihit Sachdeva and Shyam Vasudevan and we will be taking you through today's PKL 8 match between Patna Pirates and Haryana Steelers.
Haryana Steelers' PKL 8 season comes to end as the side loses to three-time champion Patna Pirates. The Pirates, leading the points table, was the better side from the get-go and had a three-point lead at the break. Haryana Steelers made a comeback in the dying stages of the opening half and began the second half well but found it hard to get past the Pirates defence.
However, a late Super Tackle, a two-point raid from Ashish and a crunch tackle on Surender Nada saw the side equalise at 27-27, but Pirates' defence stepped it up a notch to seal the win. Steelers' loss means Puneri Paltan will hold on to the sixth spot and snap up the final playoff spot.
FULL-TIME! Patna Pirates beats Haryana Steelers 30-27.
30-27 That might just be the game! Shadloui makes another cracking tackle to deny Ashish and there's just five seconds left on the clock!
29-27 SUPER TACKLE TO PATNA PIRATES! Vikash needed a point on the do-or-die raid but gets taken out by Shubham's ankle hold. Two priceless points for Patna Pirates!
27-27 Surender Nada delivers under pressure with a monstrous ankle hold! Scores are level with just over a minute to go!
End to end action here as both Guman and Vikash return empty-handed!
The Steelers have picked up four points in the last two minutes are now very well-poised to go all the way. What a humdinger of a contest this is turning out to be!
27-26 WHAT A TURNAROUND THIS IS! Ashish comes good when it matters the most as he gets the better of two players, including Monu, to make it a one-point game!
27-24 SUPER TACKLE FOR HARYANA STEELERS! Jaideep does exactly what his coach asked of him and does extremely well to contain Sachin. Two huge points for the Steelers.
Rakesh, the Steelers coach, wants his side to go for a Super Tackle. Can the Steelers get the job done?
Time is running out for the Steelers! We're down to the last five minutes and the side is still trailing. Remember, the Steelers need to win today to advance to the playoffs.
27-22 Monu turns defender as he grabs hold of Rohit's ankle with precision.
26-22 Sachin, you beauty! He gets a running hand touch on Ravi and then ducks under Surender to get two huge points.
24-22 A point for each team as Mohit tackles Guman but also steps out of bounds in the process.
23-21 Ashish ventures deep into the Pirates half and is duly taken out by Shadloui. The Iranian has three points to his name and is closing in on a High-5!
22-20 Vikash has been relegated to the bench right away as he runs straight into Shadloui's double thigh hold.
21-20 That's a solid team tackle from the Steelers. Surender leads th e way as he grabs into Sachin's ankle and the rest of the defence swoops in with the assist. That will also revive Vikash.
21-18 Uh-oh, trouble for Haryana Steelers! Monu Goyat goes for the bonus point on the do-or-die raid and also slips out of Vikash's tackle!
19-17 Vikash forces Shadloui out of bounds but the Iranian refuses to leave! The umpires tell him he'd stepped into the lobby and Shadloui, reluctantly, agrees to go back.
19-16: Meetu targets Shadloui, but the Iranian traps him with a solid ankle hold. There's no escaping Shadloui!
18-16 Vikash is everywhere! He takes matters into his own hands and shoves Guman off the mat.
18-15: Guman earns his fourth point of the game as he escapes Ashish's attempted back-hold.
17-15: Vikash begins the second half with a classy point as he tags Neeraj on the turn.
Hey guys, Shyam here and I will keep you company for the second half of the game. What do you guys think? Can the Steelers pull off a miracle here and snap up the last available playoff spot?
HALF-TIME: Haryana Steelers trails Patna Pirates by three points at the end of the first half. The Steelers made a fine comeback towards the end of the half and will look to ride the momentum into the next 20 minutes of play. Remember, nothing but a win will take the Steelers to the playoffs!
17-14: Last raid of the first half and it is an empty one by Guman.
17-14: Meetu picks up a bonus and the danger of do-or-die raid has been avoided.
17-13: A failed dash from Jaideep and Guman Singh makes it to mid-line.
16-13: Big mistake from Ashish considering how important this match is. He went full tilt looking for the touch and ended up into the lobbies without one.
15-13: ALL OUT!!! Haryana has shown some stunning resolve. Sachin Tanwar picks the bonus on offer but then the entire Haryana line-up piles up on him.
14-10: Patna down to one as Vikash picks up a touch point off Shubham Shinde on the left corner.
14-9: Sachin picks up a bonus.
13-9: Ashish, you beauty!!! Lovely work by the raider to deceive the two Patna defenders closing in on him from both corners.
13-7: Ashish with another successful raid as he jumps over Sajin who tried to block him.
13-6: Guman Singh picks up a bonus.
12-6: Excellent raid from Ashish as he sends dangerous Shadloui off the mat with a brutal kick.
12-5: That's more like it from Haryana. Combination tackle from Jaideep and Mohit to take down Prashanth Kumar Rai.
12-4: ALL OUT!!!! Strange decision from Haryana not to sub in a raider. Ravi Kumar goes in, picks the bonus but nothing more than that as the Patna defence traps him.
9-3: Sachin reduces Steelers to one with a touch point off Surender.
8-3: Do-or-die raid for Haryana, substitute raid Meetu goes in and Neeraj Kumar puts in a massive block to stop the raider.
7-3: Guman Singh in for the next raid and escapes from Jaideep's ankle hold on the left.
6-3: Vinay goes in for the raid and picks up a bonus but at the same time, invites Shadloui for the ankle hold who goes for it and the assist comes just in time.
5-2: Enough raiding for Sachin as Guman Singh goes in this time. However, Jaideep does enough to push the raider off the mat before he got his hand across the mid-line.
5-1: Sachin Tanwar looks supreme at the moment. A running hand touch on Ashish who could not do much to avoid it.
4-1: Vinay opens Haryana's account with a bonus.
4-0: Do-or-die raid for Haryana, Vikash goes in and looks for the running hand touch on Shadloui who retreats in time leading to Vikash stepping into the lobbies for a self-out.
3-0: A deft toe touch by Sachin Tanwar and Surender Nada walks back to the bench.
2-0: Prashanth Kumar Rai picks up a bonus.
1-0: First raid for Haryana, captain Vikash goes in but does not manage to pick a point.
1-0: Sachin Tanwar puts in the opening raid and picks up a bonus.
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TOSS - Haryana Steelers wins the toss and selects left side of the court. Patna Pirates to raid first.
9:45pm TEAM NEWS!
Patna Pirates: Prashanth Kumar Rai, Neeraj Kumar, Sachin Tanwar, Guman Singh, Sunil Narwal, Sajin, Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh
Haryana Steelers: Vikash Kandola, Vinay, Ashish Narwal, Jaideep Dahiya, Mohit Nandal, Surender Nada, Ravi Kumar
9:35pm: Head-to-head stats: Matches played - 6, Matches won by Haryana Steelers - 3, Matches won by Patna Pirates - 2, Tied matches - 1, Last meeting - Patna Pirates won 42-39 when the two sides met earlier this season.
9:25pm: In the second match of the evening, Gujarat Giants is leading U Mumba and is well-poised to seal its spot in the playoffs! Follow our coverage of this exciting match here:
9:20pm: Haryana Steelers could either find itself already qualified or outside the top six by the time its game against the Pirates gets underway. The Steelers’ future hinges primarily on the game between Gujarat and U Mumba.
If the Giants win, the Steelers will also have to beat the Pirates to qualify. If Gujarat’s game against U Mumba finishes in a tie, the Steelers can qualify with a win or a tie in their game. If Gujarat loses its game by less than seven points and earns a point from the contest, the Steelers can also qualify with a loss, provided it’s by less than seven points.
The Pirates have been in cruise mode at the top of the standings. They fielded their fringe players in their last match against Dabang Delhi and while it cost them their seven-game winning streak, coach Ram Mehar Singh won’t be too concerned about it. The Pirates will likely rest their starters ahead of their semifinal match, which could work in the Steelers’ favour.
9:10pm: The 2022 edition of the Sportstar Aces Awards is back and we are celebrating the marvellous year for Indian Sports that 2021 was. From Neeraj Chopra and the other Olympic and Paralympic medallists to the Indian cricket team, we have a bunch of nominees who need your vote to win! Click here to VOTE!
9pm: Hello folks and welcome to our third and final game of the evening in which Haryana Steelers, still in the race for a playoff spot, will be up against table-topper Patna Pirates! Before we get to that, here's a recap of what went down in the PKL over the last fortnight -
ALSO READ | PKL notebook: Patna Pirates packs a punch
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