Pro Kabaddi PKL 8 Highlights: Gujarat Giants beats UP Yoddha 38-31, Pardeep Narwal reaches 1300 career raid points

Pro Kabaddi League Live Score: Get live updates and scores from the PKL 8 game between UP Yoddha and Gujarat Giants being played in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Published : Feb 13, 2022 21:02 IST

UP Yoddha takes on Gujarat Giants in match 115 of the Pro Kabaddi League 8 (PKL 8) in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Welcome to Sportstar’s coverage of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Nihit Sachdeva and I will be taking you through today’s PKL 8 match between UP Yoddha and Gujarat Giants.

UP YODDHA 31-38 GUJARAT GIANTS

Catch up on all the details of Gujarat Giants vs UP Yoddhas PKL 9, 2022, Live here:

Meanwhile, do take some time to vote for your favourite athletes/teams in the 2022 Sportstar Aces Awards.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

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:

Summary: Gujarat Giants beat UP Yoddha 38-31 to enter top six. A loss by seven points meant UP walked away with one point which could prove crucial in the race to the play-offs. Gujarat’s defence proved too strong for UP’s raider as only Pardeep Narwal could clinch a Super 10 (12 raid points) while the likes of Shrikant Jadhav and Surender Gill were largely ineffective. While Girish Ernak got a well deserved High 5( six tackle points), he was well supported by Parvesh Bhainswal and Hadi Oshtorak as Giants skipper Sunil Kumar had an off night. UP Yoddha, after trailing for most of the game, finally managed to make it 30-34 in favour of the Giants with three minutes to go but a multi-point raid by Ajay Kumar followed by a Super Tackle from Soleiman Pahlevani made sure that UP could not complete the comeback. It was a historic match nonetheless as Pardeep Narwal became the first player in PKL history to reach the milestone of 1300 career raid points.

31-38: Final raid of the match and it is an empty one from Surender Gill. Gujarat Giants beats UP Yoddha 38-31!!!!

31-38: SUPER TACKLE!!!! Super sub Soleimani brings down Pardeep Narwal leaving probably two more raids in the match which the Giants look set to win now.

31-36: Ajay Kumar goes in for the raid, tries his best to get a touch point but the UP defence stays disciplined. He returns and asks for bonus which the official has not given. Giants have used the review to ask for the bonus. A little over one minute left on the clock and this point could make quite a difference. THE REPLAY SHOWS THAT NITESH STEPPED INTO THE LOBBIES RULING HIM SELF OUT AND THE BONUS TOO HAS BEEN GIVEN.

31-34: Pardeep is doing it on his own as he draws the error from Sunil this time and reduced Giants to two men on the mat.

30-34: Deficit reduced to four. Another successful raid for Pardeep as Parvesh gave the touch point while trying the thigh hold.

Three minutes left on the clock.

29-34: And now UP takes down Rakesh. They are not going to back down so easily.

28-34: SUPER 10 FOR PARDEEP NARWAL as he goes past a tame thigh hold attempted by Pardeep Kumar.

Final strategic time out. Five minutes to go.

27-34: Parvesh Bhainswal scores his fourth tackle point of the night after a perfect ankle hold to stop Surender Gill.

27-33: Crucial touch point for Surender as he lures Girish into the ankle hold and then escapes.

26-33: Do-or-die raid for Giants, Pardeep goes in but UP’s defence shows patience and eventually, Sumit traps Pardeep in the ankle hold.

25-33: Reckless raid fro Pardeep as he tried a dubki in front of Girish Ernak of all defenders. Girish gladly accepts his sixth tackle point of the night.

25-32: Not this time. Parvesh tries another block but Pardeep Narwal skillfully evades that to make it to safety.

24-31: Parvesh Bhainswal with an impressive block on Shrikant.

First strategic time out. Ten minutes to go.

24-30: UP reduces the deficit further as the defence takes down Ajay Kumar.

23-30: Error comes from Girish, who has already completed a High 5 for tonight, as he tries the ankle hold on Surender but the raider escapes quickly.

22-28: ALL OUT!!!!! Six-point raid for Pardeep Narwal as he swipes off the remaining four Giants players in a single raid. Pardeep reaches an unprecedented 1300 raid points in his PKL career.

16-28: SUPER RAID!!!!! What a substitution by Manpreet Singh. Ajay Kumar came in the All Out looming but instead he broke through the chain of the UP defence to make it to safety.

16-25: Make that one as Pardeep gets a touch point on Girish.

15-25: Is the comeback on? Rakesh tries to jump over Nitesh but does not go too far. Another tackle point for UP and Gujarat reduced to two.

14-25: Hadi can’t do everything on his own everytime, can he? The Iranian came in with the ankle hold on Pardeep Narwal but got no support and the raider reached the mid-line easily.

13-25: Do-or-die raid for Mahendra Rajput, the bonus wasn’t available so went deep in search of a touch point and Sumit came in with a decent thigh hold to bring him down before others pushed him off the mat.

12-25: Hadi with another moment of magic as he puts in a brilliant dash to push Shrikant off the mat.

HALF-TIME: UP Yoddha 12-24 Gujarat Giants

12-24: SUPER TACKLE!!!! Brilliant work by the Giants defence to bring down Surender Gill. Just three on the mat but more than enough.

12-22: Do-or-die raid for Giants this time and Pardeep Kumar gets tackled.

11-22: Do-or-die raid for Shrikant Jadhav but no worries as Parvesh initiates the ankle hold too early allowing the raider to escape.

10-22: Rakesh tries the dubki but the chain of UP defence manages to stop him just before his hand could cross the mid-line.

9-22: Bonus for Shrikant Jadhav.

7-21: ALL OUT!!! Surender Gill picks up a bonus but nothing more than that. Incredible performance from Giants as they inflict second All Out.

6-18: Massive block by Girish to take down Pardeep Narwal.

6-16: Surender Gill quickly goes in and comes back with a touch off Girish.

5-16: Error from Nitesh who puts in a weak ankle hold on Pardeep Kumar.

5-15: Multi-point raid for HS Rakesh as Sumit’s ankle hold proves to be a weak one. One other tries to push Rakesh off the mat but fails.

5-13: Pardepe goes in for the next raid for UP, waits to analyse his options but that gives enough time to Giants defenders to go behind him and block him.

5-12: Bonus for Mahendra Rajput.

5-11: Back to full strength. Pardeep Narwal goes in and tries to get a touch point with a kick, Pardeep Kumar attempts to execute the thigh hold but fails.

4-11: ALL OUT!!! It seemed Sumit and Nitesh had pulled off a Super Tackle but by sheer strength, Pardeep Kumar made it to the mid-line. UP has used the review saying that Pardeep had been completely pushed off the mat. However, the decision goes in the favour of Gujarat Giants.

4-7: Do-or-die raid for UP Yoddha, substitute raider Shrikant Jadhav goes in and gets mobbed by Giants defence.

4-6: SUPER TACKLE!!!! Shubham Kumar with a brilliant block takes down HS Rakesh who had attempted to jump over the defender. However, one UP defender had stepped out of bounds which gives Giants one point as well.

2-5: Double thigh hold by Hadi followed by Girish’s block means Surender can’t make it to mid-line.

2-4: Mahendra Rajput puts in a successful raid with a running back kick on Gurdeep.

2-3: Diving ankle hold by Hadi on the right corner proves sufficient to bring down Pardeep.

2-2: Ajay returns the favour as he sends UP’s captain Nitesh off the mat with a running hand touch.

2-1: A quick running hand touch and Surender Gill sends Sunil Kumar to the bench.

1-1: HS Rakesh picks up a bonus.

1-0: First raid, Pardeep Narwal goes in and gets off the mark with a touch off dangerous Girish Ernak on the left corner.

--------

TOSS - Gujarat Giants wins the toss and selects left side of the court. UP Yoddha to raid first.

LINE-UPS!!!!

UP Yoddha: Pardeep Narwal, Ashu Singh, Shubham Kumar, Gurdeep, Surender Gill, Nitesh Kumar, Sumit

Gujarat Giants: Ajay Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Parvesh Bhainswal, Rakesh HS, Mahendra Rajput, Hadi Oshtorak, Girish Ernak

In the second game of the evening, Bengaluru Bulls has beaten Jaipur Pink Panthers 45-37 courtesy of Super 10s from skipper Pawan Sehrawat (10 raid points) and Bharat Naresh (15 raid points). The point conceded in the final raid of the match could cost Jaipur a lot as it meant they could not even take a single point from the match which could be crucial in the race to the play-offs.

9:40pm: The Gujarat Giants hold a narrow 3-2 lead in their head-to-head series against U.P. Yoddha. Two games between the sides, including their first meeting this season, have finished in a tie.

9:35pm: The Gujarat Giants snapped their three-game losing streak with a narrow 34-32 win over the Telugu Titans. The victory was crucial for the Giants, as it kept their playoff hopes alive. The Giants currently trail sixth-placed U Mumba by four points and could finish the night in the top six, provided the Steelers win tonight and Gujarat also beats U.P. A loss, however, would leave them a mountain to climb in their final three games of the league stage. Gujarat cannot afford a single slip up because if they do, they will likely miss out on a playoff spot.

9:30pm: In the second match of the evening, Bengaluru Bulls is currently leading Jaipur Pink Panthers 38-32 with five minutes left on the clock. Follow our live coverage here:

9:25pm: Three straight wins have seen the U.P. Yoddha climb to fourth on the points table. The key to their resurgence has been the return to form of raider Pardeep Narwal. The Record-Breaker has recorded two straight Super 10s and was spectacular in his team’s crucial win over the Jaipur Pink Panthers. Pardeep’s three Super Raids against the Pink Panthers saw him rise to second of the list of players with the most raids which yielded three points or more. Surender Gill, U.P. top scorer in Season 8, has also been in great form and will hope to deliver another excellent performance on Sunday. U.P. have a played game more than four of the five teams right behind them on the points table, who are also vying for a playoff spot. They need to continue winning games to ensure they make it to the playoffs.

9:20pm: 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!

9:1 0pm: In case if you’re new to this sport, here’s a simple explainer that covers all the rules of the game and the various terms such as ‘All Out’, ‘Do-or-die’ and ‘Super Tackle’-

9pm: Hello folks and welcome to our PKL coverage for the day! The final game of the evening will see fourth-placed UP Yoddha take on ninth-placed Gujarat Giants. Before we get to that, here’s a recap of what went down in the PKL over the last fortnight -