Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Shyam Vasudevan and I will be taking you through today's PKL 8 match between Patna Pirates and Bengal Warriors.
Alright then, that brings us to the end of our Pro Kabaddi League coverage for the day (and the year!). We will be back tomorrow for a star-studded triple-header. See you then!
Meanwhile, you can also check out our Kings of Kabaddi series from PKL 7 - a happier time pre-COVID when we got to physically sit down with some of the biggest names in the league and hear their stories. You can check out all episodes here:
Monu Goyat, you legend! The star raider put on a show on New Year's eve as he scored a stunning seven points in a single raid to absolute decimate the Bengal Warriors and marshal the Patna Pirates to a massive 44-30 win. The win, Patna Pirates' second on the trot, sees the side soar to the second spot on the PKL points table.
Monu finished the game with 15 points and received great support from Sachin, who bagged nine points. The Bengal Warriors, once again, rode on Maninder Singh's brilliance (12 points) but the side lacked a quality all-rounder in Mohammed Nabibakhsh's absence and slipped to its third successive loss.
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44-30 That's the win! Patna Pirates secures a fantastic 14-point victory over the Bengal Warriors. Phew, what a way to end the year for the Patna Pirates!
43-29 Rohit picks up two points as he escapes the challenge from Chiyaneh.
42-27 High-5 for Amit! A good show from him today.
Patna Pirates has scored a whopping 19 points in th last five minutes while Bengal Warriors has managed only two.
41-26 Maninder gets past Chiyaneh to bring up his 12th point in the game but there's only so much he can do.
41-25 Chiyaneh strikes with the ankle hold! Rohit has to head back to the bench.
That was some out-of-the-world stuff from Monu. He skipped past one defender, wriggled past another and two more and then another one to firmly put his side in the drivers seat. He's now got 14 points and must be mighty pleased with himself.
39-25 WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?! MONU GOYAT PICKS UP SEVEN POINTS IN A RAID! That is truly unbelievable stuff from him - he gets rid of the five men in one raid!
32-25 Selvamani comes off the bench and returns to the bench in less than 35 seconds as he's tackled in no tme.
Bengal Warriors are sorely missing the services of a Nabibakhsh today. The side is severely lacking a secondary raider.
31-25 Maninder has been tumbling off the mat! Chiyaneh delivers the goods this time as he makes a perfect ankle hold.
30-25 Monu picks up the bonus point right under Maninder's nose!
Patna Pirates has scored nine points in the last five minutes while Bengal Warriors has managed only one.
29-25 ALL OUT! Sachin wriggles past both the Bengal Warriors players and propels his side ahead.
The momentum has swiftly shifted towards Patna Pirates. The side is on the verge of inflicting an All Out as the Bengal Warriors has only two men on the mat. A great chance to surge ahead for the three-time champ.
25-25 Neeraj Kumar holds on to Ravindra with a superb ankle hold and we're back on level terms with 10 minutes to go!
24-25 That's a big one! Sachin gets rid of Amit on the right and Bengal Warriors are down to three men!
23-25 That's unfortunate for Rishank. He steps into the lobby before getting a touch point and gives away an easy point to Patna Pirates.
22-25 Just when you thought Monu was retreating Abozar pulls him back a thigh hold. Good work from the Iranian veteran.
21-24 Sunil mis-times his tackle on the first time of asking but recovers well to throw in the tackle and trap Sukesh.
Monu Goyat has picked up his 500th raid point.
20-24 Sachin charges in with great energy and gets undone by a sublime thigh hold from Amit.
20-23 That's exactly what Patna Pirates needs - Monu leads from the front with a classy two-point raid.
18-23 Neeraj does really well to tackle Rishank from behind and bag his first point of the game.
Maninder walks into the opposition half and coolly fixes his hair. That's some level of confidence!
16-23 Maninder outwits Chiyaneh again! The Iranian tries to retreat and Maninder does well to get a touch on his shoulder.
16-22 The first point of the second half goes to the Bengal Warriors as Amit lands a superb tackle on Sachin.
Maninder Singh has been the star of the show so far as he's picked up 10 points in 11 raids. He has been instrumental in the Bengal Warriors' performance so far, while Sachin and Monu have kept the scoreboard ticking for Patna Pirates. A high-octane second half awaits!
16-21 Monu tackles down Sukesh and it's a five-point game!
15-21 Monu shuffles from one side to the other, attempts an audacious back-kick and multiple running hand touches before getting a touch on Rishank.
14-21 Abozar has finally turned up! He lunges in to make a monstrous ankle hold on Patna Pirates captain Prashanth.
13-20 Rishank pockets his first point of the game and that brings Maninder back on the court!
11-19 Maninder has been taken out this time and the Bengal Warriors will be without its captain for a while now.
10-18 It's Maninder vs Chiyaneh again and it's the Bengal Warriors captain who wins the battle this time. He slips out of the Iranian's ankle hold and picks up his Super 10.
10-17 Amit Nirwal with a well-timed tackle and he slams Monu on to the mat. Monu has managed just ONE POINT so far.
10-16 ALL OUT! Guman Singh is taken out by the Bengal Warriors and the defending champion has inflicted an All Out. Six-point lead now!
9-13 Absolutely brilliant from Maninder. One defender steps off bounds and Maninder gets a running hand touch on Prashanth Kumar Rai. The Pirates are down to one man!
9-11 A double whammy for Patna Pirates! Monu and Chiyaneh are sent to the bench as they both fail to get the better of Maninder. The Bengal Warriors lead for the first time today.
9-9 That's the first tackle point of the evening for the Bengal Warriors and it comes from Darshan. He makes a superb dash from the right and takes out the in-form Sachin.
9-8 Maninder invites Sunil to make a challenge and overpowers him to pick up another point.
8-6 Brilliant from Sukesh! The Patna Pirates were expecting a bonus attempt from Sukesh but he goes ahead and gets a kick on the right corner Sunil.
8-5 Sachin delivers on the do-or-die raid and pulls away from Rishank's grapple.
The Patna Pirates' defensive shape has been excellent so far. The side has offered little to no room for even a bonus point.
6-4 Look at the strength of Chiyaneh! He traps Maninder in a double thigh hold and that's that! Superb stuff from the Iranian.
4-4 Maninder gets rid of the right-cover Neeraj. That was a clean running hand touch from the Bengal Warriors captain.
4-3 That's good work from Sachin. He darts all around the baulk-line before taking a bonus point.
2-3 That's a big raid from Maninder! He bag the bonus point and also gets the better of Chiyaneh.
1-1 Rishank Devadiga makes his first raid of the season and it's not great one. He's tackled by Sajin and has to go to the bench.
0-1 Maninder picks up a point off his first raid!
Patna Pirates won the toss and chose court, Bengal Warriors will begin with the first raid.
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8:35pm: LINE UPS!
Patna Pirates: Monu Goyat, Prashanth Kumar Rai , Chiyaneh, Neeraj, Sumit, Sachin, Sajin
Bengal Warriors: Maninder Singh, Darshan J, Amit, Sukesh Hegde, Rishank Devadiga, Abozar Mighani, Sachin
8:30pm: Tamil Thalaivas has finally picked up its first win of the season! The side has beaten Puneri Paltan 36-26 and you can catch the highlights of that game here -
8:25pm: Head to head stats: Patna Pirates and Bengal Warriors have played each other 17 times in the PKL and the former holds a massive 10-4 lead in their head-to-head matches. Time for the Bengal Warriors to better that record?
8:20pm: I have to mention at this point that the Bengal Warriors has one of the most balanced teams in PKL 8. Captained by the powerhouse in Maninder Singh, the side features a plethora of stars including the ever-dependable Mohammed Nabibakhsh, Sukesh Hegde, Abozar Mighani and Rishank Devadiga. PKL debutant Akash Pikalmunde has also looked impressive, while defenders Rinku Narwal, Vijin and Sachin have looked in good stead.
8:15pm: Patna Pirates has two wins in three matches and has a great raiding unit consisting Monu Goyat, captain Prashant Kumar Rai, and Sachin. The defensive duo of of Sajin C and Iran's Mohammadreza Chiyaneh has also looked in great form and will face a strong challenge from the Bengal Warriors today.
8:10pm: Defending champion Bengal Warriors will be looking to bounce back after a deflating 52-35 defeat against last season's runner-up Dabang Delhi, on Wednesday. The Bengal Warriors simply struggled to contain Dabang Delhi's Naveen Kumar and that potentially lead to a few changes in the starting line-up against Patna Pirates. The only positive from that game was the performances from Maninder Singh and Sukesh Hegde, who picked up 25 points in total.
8:05pm: We have another game going on right now and the Tamil Thalaivas have squandered a lead (yet again!). The side had a seven-point lead which has since been cut down to three points by the Puneri Paltan. Follow that game live here -
8pm: Hello folks, welcome to the last Pro Kabaddi League match of the year! And it's only fitting that we have a clash of champions as three-time champion Patna Pirates takes on the reigning champion in Bengal Warriors. It promises to be an absolute cracker of a contest, considering the big names in the fray and a shot at the second position on the PKL table.
Before we introduce you to the fixtures of the day, here's a look at the results from the last three days -
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