PKL: Gujarat Fortunegiants makes short work of Patna Pirates

Rohit Gulia stars in Gujarat Fortunegiants’ 37-29 defeat of Patna Pirates at the Netaji Indoor Stadium.

Gujarat Fortunegiants won the game thanks to its solid defence which kept Pardeep Narwal quiet in the second half of the match.

Gujarat Fortunegiants downed defending champion Patna Pirates 37-29 to reduce the playoff chances of the latter, in a Pro Kabaddi wildcard match here at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

Fortunegiants, the Zone A league topper, took the lead at the end of the first half with two successful tackles. Pirates, which was leading 12-10 till the final minute of the opening half, failed to build on the advantage as its top raider Pradeep Narwal was tackled in a final-minute raid. Another successful tackle on the Pirates raider Manjeet fetched Fortunegiants another point to give it a 13-12 lead at the break.

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Fortunegiants showed better attacking skills after the break and got Pirates all out to enhance the lead to 28-23. Rohit Gulia turned things around for Fortunegiants as he conducted a few successful raids while his colleagues in the defence made some successful tackles to keep the lead intact till the end.

Needing a win to secure a third place in the Group B league standings, the loss has complicated the situation for Pirates.

Pardeep Narwal got his 15th Super 10 of the season.

 

The defending champion, which has tallied 55 points from 22 matches, now stands the chance of being dislodged from its current third position if UP Yoddhas wins its final match. The Yoddhas, which is currently placed fourth on 52 points from 21 matches, plays its final match against Bengal Warriors on Wednesday and a win (which gives five points) will see it past Pirates in the final count.

Bengal Warriors took a step closer to claiming the top spot in Zone B as it beat current Zone B  leader Bengaluru Bulls 37-31 in the second match of the evening. Trailing for greater part of the match, the Warriors made a fine comeback in the final six minutes of the action. Maninder Singh made a super raid, that took out four Bengaluru players and a bonus point, to give Bengal a 31-26 lead.

The Warriors held on to the advantage for the remaining time to pick up five points from the win. Warriors tallied 69 points from 21 outings to remain close second behind Bulls, which has 73 points from 21 matches. Both team play their last round matches on Thursday.