Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Lavanya Lakshminarayanan and I will be taking you through today's PKL 8 match between Bengal Warriors and Jaipur Pink Panthers.
Action is not done for the night. A spirited Puneri Paltan will take on Dabang Delhi. Follow that game with my colleague Nihit Sachdeva here:
AND THAT'S TIME. A 19-POINT WIN FOR THE WARRIORS.
Maninder's men go third on the table thanks to this win, below Bengaluru Bulls and Dabang Delhi. They've leapfrogged from seventh place. Great day in the office for the men in blue.
22-41 Jaipur reviews for a bonus but the raider's foot is cutting the black line. REVIEW UNSUCCESSFUL. Everyone just waiting for this game to end now. Bengal to celebrate, Jaipur to get this ordeal done with.
22-41 Jaipur runs in for a quick bonus point
21-41
Vishal gifts Maninder a point on a do or die raid for Bengal. This is a poor show from Jaipur
21-40 Bonus point for Jaipur
Ran Singh has been given a yellow card.
I fail to understand why. Let's wait and see. Is this for a dangerous tackle? More importantly, this is two minutes off the mat for the man, which is effectively for the rest of the game.
20-40
Jaipur's coach said Abozar will come for you, steal the point. Abozar does come as predicted but gets his man as his team helps stamp Amit out.
Slow the game down, says BC Ramesh (Bengal Warriors coach)
20-39
Bengal has gone for an advanced tackle and given up two players close to the midline. This is the signature Bengal haste we've seen in the last few minutes of
EVERY game. Bengal needs to keep its head in the game.
18-39
Nabibakhsh escapes Vishal and carries Sandeep Dhull too to
trigger the all out. Third all out for Jaipur.
18-35 RAN SINGH! Channeling his season 1 form against his old team as he gets a ridiculous backhold on Panthers raider. Unbelievable.
18-34
Nabibakhsh uses the lobby again. But there's no freak raid this time. He picks up pace and gets a touch on Sahul and gets to the midline using the lobby.
Warriors have a 15-point lead over the Panthers. Five minutes remain.
18-33 Bengal is working as a team here and that's brilliant. That's their strength. Abozar, Vishal begin the work and the rest join in to thump Nitin off. That could have easily been a four point raid if Nitin had his way but the brute strength of the Warriors is hard to wriggle out of.
17-32 VISHAL MANE! He brings down the man who has been targeting him all evening - ARJUN DESHWAL -
as he gets a firm hold on his legs and slows him down and pulls him back. Quality! He gets support from his team and also a big chest bump from Nabibakhsh.
17-31 Maninder is off.
He is on a do or die raid and has taken long. Maninder is targeting Sahul Kumar but Vishal comes in and brings down the big man.
16-31
Ran Singh and Anand combine so well in that chain to keep the raider down as he tries to almost dubki his way out of that line of defence.
16-30
Abozar Mighani's haste was going to cost him sooner or later and he helps Amit Nagar get a point
Under 10 minutes to go. 20 tackles. Just three points from that.
15-30
ARJUN DESHWAL IS BROUGHT DOWN and Nabibakhsh comes to the party. He gets a massive ankle hold on Arjun and Vishal blocks him to finish it up. Nabibakhsh is ecstatic.
15-29 Maninder pressures the corners and manages to send Sahul into the lobby.
15-28 Arjun Deshwal runs around the court for a while and attacks the covers. This time, it won't be Vishal Mane. He's got Anand V.
14-28
JPP is getting antsy and Sandeep Dhull is the one who sacrifices his place on the mat. He runs into Nabibakhsh as he makes his way back to the midline and seems in a fair amount of pain. He can rest up on the bench
14-27 Maninder gets Sandeep Dhull and Pavan and Warriors have triggered another ALL OUT. WOW.
14-23 Jaipur gets a point but before I can focus on what happened here, Maninder's raid comes in. Wait for that update
13-23 Maninder Singh goes in with a super tackle chance for JPP but they can do nothing as he gets a big touch on Pavan.
With that, Maninder has yet another SUPER 10.
JPP: 16 TACKLES. 3 TACKLE POINTS. And there's the problem right there.
13-22 Ran SIngh with a double ankle hold and Vishal Mane with a dash take out Arjun Deshwal
13-21 MANINDER SINGH WITH A SUPER RAID AGAIN.
He tries to dive into the chain but sees no way out and then ploughs his way out, taking three pink shirts with him to the midline. Brilliant.
13-18
Arjun Deshwal targets Vishal Mane yet again this time bang in the centre of the court.
12-18 Maninder clears the Jaipur side of the mat. Gets both defenders with him to the midline to trigger the ALL OUT. But that does mean all players come back in and they go again.
12-14
Jaipur gets a bonus to start the second half
Half time summary:
An interesting game given that two of the most defensively unstable teams are playing on their defence! For most part of this first half, the points were level and teams were trading blows but the momentum seems to have drifted Bengal's way in the last few minutes. Panthers defenders seem to be better coordinated and will play a big role. Keeping Maninder quiet will be key. The Panthers strategy is focusing on weaklinks (like Vishal Mane who is getting mat time after quite a while) and support staff like Sukesh Hegde who is key to their revival effort and that's a great strategy. We haven't seen anything coordinated in raiding from the Warriors yet but that may change. Will today see a freak raid again? I am greedy, sue me!
11-14
Vishal Mane with a high quality dash. Anand and Vishal combine to bulldoze Deshwal off the mat. What a way to try and make amends for all those touches conceded!
11-13 Maninder is making this look very effortless. Multipoint raid. TWO MEN taken out. Vishal tries to block his legs so close to the midline and he takes out one more defender trying to block him as he semi cartwheels to the midline. Oh and before we forget,
MANINDER HAS REACHED THE 900 RAID POINTS MILESTONE!
11-11 Arjun Deshwal gets Vishal Mane yet again. His inclusion here has not worked for the Warriors. This is the fourth instance he's been picked up on in this match.
10-11 Nabibakhsh takes out Sahul Kumar on the right. He slides forward for a massive touch on his jersey. Maninder back on the mat.
10-10 Amit returns the favour and gets Sukesh Hegde with a kick. Sukesh has been slow to react but it seems to be strategic to target him too tonight. That revives Arjun Deshwal.
9-10
That's some acceleration there from Anand V. He gets a running hand touch on Sandeep Dhull. His pace took the Panthers skipper by surprise
9-9 SUPER TACKLE. Ran Singh has his first point of the night as he gets a hold on Nitin's ankle and thigh. His teammates help him finish the tackle. Nabibakhsh is revived.
9-8 Maninder almost hesitated there! Why did he do that? He comes in on a do or die raid and spends far too much time intimidating the opposition. Vishal gets a double thigh hold and pins him down
8-8 The defence strikes and Arjun Deshwal is the man down. Tackled in the right flank.
8-7 Anand V is the sub in. He goes for the bonus but he's managed a touch. Brilliant work and that revives Maninder Singh. Almost an accidental touch this but they'll take it
8-6 Excellent touch from Arjun Deshwal to pick up Sukesh Hegde. Big touch on his chest. The cover and corners don't support the lone raider on the mat. Who will bring their players back?
7-6 When Nabibakhsh slides low, Sandeep Dhull runs to get a bullish backhold on the Iranian. My my. Such strength. Such skill.
6-6 Sukesh Hegde gets a bonus point. Bonuses don't revive players and Maninder is still huffing and puffing on the bench there
6-5
Arjun Deshwal comes in on a do or die raid and he's got Vishal Mane. Panthers are targeting this cover defender and utilising his low mat time this season.
5-5 SUPER RAID. He's taken out two men to bring parity to the scores and its th right corner that is targeted this time.
5-3 Sandeep Dhull gets a hold on Maninder's ankle and the team helps him bring the big man down. Warriors down to four men.
4-3
Arjun Deshwal takes out Vishal Mane and Ran Singh. That left corner wiped out for Bengal
2-2
Sukesh Hegde gets a massive kick on Sahul Kumar
2-1
Jaipur Pink Panthers gets a bonus from Arjun Deshwal
2-0 Maninder takes out Sandeep Dhull on the left corner as he tempts the defender to try and grab his ankle. Nice work
1-0 Maninder Singh starts things off with a bonus.
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This is a crucial match as the winner will break into the top 6 and it will come down to which defensive unit performs better.
7:20PM LINEUPS:
Bengal Warriors: Maninder Singh, Amit Nirwal, Vishal Mane, Sukesh Hegde, Mohammad Nabibakhsh, Abozar Mighani, Ran Singh
Jaipur Pink Panthers: Arjun Deshwal, Pavan TR, Vishal Lather, Amit Nagar, Nitin Rawal, Sahul Kumar, Sandeep Dhull
7:15PM: HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
The
Bengal Warriors hold a 9-4 in their head-to-head clashes against the Jaipur Pink Panthers.
They beat Jaipur 31-28 in a thriller earlier this season.
7PM: PREVIEW:
Bengal Warriors are coming into this game on the back of a
40-36 loss at the hands of UP Yoddha . Maninder Singh delivered another fabulous performance, scoring 19 points, more than twice as many as the next highest scorer on either team. But it was slim pickings for the Warriors outside of their skipper. Sukesh Hegde scored six points, while the other six players who played for the Warriors combined for only 10.
The defence managed only four tackle points , a horrid return from an experienced unit. The Warriors need their star players to find some form if they aim to retain their crown.
Jaipur Pink Panthers rallied late in their previous outing against the Tamil Thalaivas and rescued a tie. Arjun Deshwal had another big night, scoring 15 raid points for Jaipur. The
Pink Panthers’ defence had a rare off night , as they could muster only four tackle points. The defensive unit was also poor in the second half of their game against the Telugu Titans, as they managed only three tackle points. For three straight halves, the Pink Panthers’ defence hasn’t been at its effective best. They’ll look to get back to their usual self against a potent Bengal Warriors raiding unit.
6:45PM: As we wait for proceedings to begin tonight, take a look at what happened when these two teams met earlier in the season. Bengal Warriors came out on top. Can they do the double on the Panthers?
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6:35PM: Another helpful reminder of the rules. If you need it!
6:30PM: Hello folks! Welcome to our live coverage of the first game of the evening between Bengal Warriors and Jaipur Pink Panthers. Before we get to that, here is my review of the season so far.
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