Welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Lavanya Lakshmi Narayanan and I will be taking you through today's PKL 8 match between Bengal Warriors and Jaipur Pink Panthers.
28-31 Only Nabibakhsh and Maninder - the two reliable horses of this side- remain on the mat.
Arjun goes tempting Nabibakhsh on that corner but he is not to be fooled. He gets a hold on Arjun's ankles. Maninder comes around to block him from advancing to the midline. Arjun is aggressively pulling away but these two Warriors have put in an incredible effort to manage a super tackle and
WIN THIS GAME.
28-29 Looks like Maninder is running the clock down. One final raid remains and this one will go to the Panthers. Can Arjun Deshwal manage a tie, or dare I say it, a win?
28-29
Arjun Deshwal has oulled two points back. Unnecessary ankle hold and dash by the midline.
26-29 NABIBAKHSH is stepping up in Maninder's absence yet again
. He gets the bonus and Nitin Rawal as well. 45 seconds to go. Three points separate the two teams.
26-27 Arjun Deshwal gets out Abozar Mighani. Under a minute to go.
25-27
Arjun Deshwal claims a touch on Darshan.
BC Ramesh tells his team to be careful about falling into the lobby
24-27 MY WORD NABIBAKHSH.
I am sorry, I don't mean to exaggerate but this game is not good for your blood pressure. Minute by minute drama. There needs to be a rule against this. Nabibaksh GETS TWO PEOPLE OFF THE MAT but seems to have pulled a muscle.
24-25 Arjun Deshwal gets an easy touch off Amit Narwal.
One point the lead now. The errors are creeping in.
23-25 DO OR DIE RAID and Jaipur has pulled back Maninder Singh.
Is this the chance Jaipur was waiting for? It took four men to take Maninder down. Is Bengal going to bottle this?
BC Ramesh: Play with patience.
22-25 MY GOD. MY HEART WAS IN MY MOUTH. THAT LOOKED SO DICEY!
Deepak Niwas Hooda is castled by the chains. Abozar and Maninder go around Deepak, block him out and get a hold on his legs. Deepak's hand looked like it could go out and help him take the defenders out but Bengal does well. ALL THAT EFFORT for one solitary point.
Arjun Deshwal has been substituted.
He seems to have sustained a cut. If there is a time to capitalise, it is now.
22-24
SUPER RAID? Maninder is fuming internally.
Arjun was not safe during the raid in terms of the midline but
because Sachin Vittala held Arjun's neck. The referee fumes as she says her decision. Sachin was grabbing Arjun by the neck, that is not allowed. Arjun is safe. Thank god nothing has happened here.
21-24
Arjun Deshwal drags a defender off. Why is Bengal not supporting the defender? Too risky? It all boils down to these final few minutes and points
20-24
Nabibakhsh goes in on a do or die raid and goes far too deep in the corner. He was perhaps hoping to push the corner out of bounds but is tackled. You'd think it's an easy point for Jaipur but DEFENDER IS OUT OF BOUNDS. Nabibakhsh is safe. Gets the point. More importantly, gets Maninder back on the mat. It looks like Nabibaksh got a touch which then rules out the safety. But well, neither side has a review left. Oh well.
Under 10 minutes to go. Three points differentiate the two sides.
No Mani, no Abozar for Bengal.
Abozar looks so upset on the bench. It's a little funny, not going to lie.
Nabibakhsh now with the most amount of work to do as Abozar and Mani are both off the mat. No pressure, Nabibakhsh
20-23
Darshan commits himself too early and Naveen gets a touch and reduces that deficit.
19-23
Do or die raid for Bengal and Mani is in and is tackled. Good job as Jaipur Pink Panthers manage a
SUPER TACKLE! More importantly, Maninder Singh is on the bench now. An ankle hold and some assistance.
Abozar has reviewed the decision saying a defender, Nitin Rawal, was off the mat - out of bounds before the tackle was initiated. OH THE REPLAY VALIDATES ABOZAR. Nitin Rawal has his foot on that white line.
Will the referees agree? REVIEW UNSUCCESSFUL. They don't agree. Perhaps if Nitin had crossed the line, it would have made sense.
But Abozar is given a yellow card as and I quote "he's constantly arguing with the umpire"
17-23
Abozar Mighani initiates a strong tackle on Deepak Niwas Hooda. He is crouched low and gets the double thigh hold while the others come around and block him back into the Bengal half. Nicely done.
17-22
Deepak Niwas Hooda takes out Amit Narwal. What a horror night for Amit Narwal. One successful tackle out of six attempts for the defender.
16-22
Sahul Kumar's buttery ankle hold helps Maninder walk off, literally, with a point
16-21 BRILLIANT DEFENCE HERE FROM BENGAL.
Darshan gets a hold on Arjun's legs. Darshan is pulled by a defender to add some power to the pull on Arjun Deshwal while the others come to get that hand away from the midline. WHAT A TACKLE. One for the highlight reel this one.
16-20
Arjun Deshwal takes out Amit Narwal to get his own
Super 10! Brilliant work. He's chipping away there.
15-20 Maninder is held on to by Vishal but why? Maninder drags him to the midline. Very ordinary. Oh but wait. Maninder has raced off to his SUPER 10 in between all this fuss
15-19 Arjun Deshwal keeps his had in the game and gets the defender off. Bengal is warned for the jersey pull too.
14-19 Oh there's a mess here.
Deepak Niwas Hooda is still arguing about his bonus from the previous raid. Maninder goes in for his raid and gets a touch on Nitin Rawal (while Deepak is still arguing about the bonus) and is claiming the point. Referee gives him the point Deepak now say that Maninder has gone out of bounds and so there's no question of a point. Hehe. What a raid this is. Pure confusion everywhere. Now the review seems to be about Maninder speaking to Deepak Niwas Hooda before crossing the midline - AGAINST THE RULES. Maninder needs to say
kabaddi kabaddi and nothing else. The replay shows Maninder putting his hand over the midline before talking but we don't have the best angle here and everyone on the mat is silent now. So we have a wide angle, Maninder gets his hand across the line and then talks to Deepak. So Mani seems safe.
Oh what a mess. Review is unsuccessful. Maninder gets Nitin Rawal. Jaipur loses its review. Deepak Hooda and Maninder get a green card for the arguing.
Only five tackle points have been scored in the first 20 minutes. WOW
HALFTIME:
It's been all about the raiders so far as Bengal Warriors goes into the second half with a four point lead over Jaipur Pink Panthers. Maninder Singh reached a special milestone - 800 raid points. He goes right up there with the legends in this league's history. Can he guide his team to a win and break their 3-game losing streak? Deepak Niwas Hooda and Co. will hope not. They haven't looked bad, but hasty tackles and lack of support for Arjun Deshwal will not help their cause.
On to the second half now.
14-18 MANINDER SINGH GETS TO 800 RAID POINTS IN THE PRO KABADDI LEAGUE.
Maninder has been tempting Sahul Kumar and it comes good. He takes him out for his 800th point
14-17
Deepak Niwas Hooda's lofted kick gets Abozar didn't see that coming
. WOW.
13-17
Arjun Deshwal gets his bonus and runs back
12-17
Deepak Singh's hasty tackle, a dash here, goes in vain. Do or die raid for Bengal and Nabibakhsh is quick to scramble back to the midline with a point to show for it
Five minutes remain. Maninder on the bench. Four point deficit for the Panthers. Can they claw their way back?
12-16
Arjun Deshwal gets Darshan J to the bench. Very smooth. No fuss. Strong hand touch
11-16
Ooof. Maninder is one short of 800 raid points but he won't get it this time as the Panthers, Sahul Kumar specifically, bring him down.
10-16
Maninder pursues the covers, and sends Naveen off the mat. Oof. Pressure on that backline.
10-15
Deepak Niwas Hooda gets his bonus point
9-15
Maninder Singh's running handtouch gets Nitin Rawal. AGAIN.
BUNNY.
9-14 Abozar Mighani is brilliant and he gets his claws out.
He gets a hold on Deepak Niwas Hooda's waist and pulls him down. Maninder is very happy.
9-13
Amit Narwal and Nabibakhsh gift Arjun Deshwal a super raid. Bonus too.
SUPER RAID. Anything Mani does, Arjun can too.
6-13
Arjun Deshwal comes in, gets a touch point, Darshan is it, and gets out!
5-13 SUPER RAID.
Here is the Maninder Singh we know! He gets the bonus, a defender comes dashing towards him, he pushes him down, resists the crowd coming to him and gets past the midline. There's a jersey pulling warning for Jaipur Pink Panthers, going to Deepak Singh if I am not wrong. Lovely job by Maninder!
5-10
Deepak had to go deep. He is the last man standing. He gets the bonus, goes to the centre of the mat and the Bengal side rounds him up like a bunch of predators.
ALL OUT.
4-7 HOW BRILLIANT IS NABIBAKSH?
He gets two of the remaining three defenders even though they've tackled him thanks to that dangling hand. What a brilliant raid
4-5
Deepak Niwas Hooda gets a bonus point
3-5
Nitin Rawal and Sahul Kumar try and get Maninder when hes on the move but Mani is far too quick and takes them both out as he runs past the midline
3-3
Arjun is tackled to the mat in the middle as a Bengal defender get a strong hold on his left leg and brings him down. Interesting bit here is Abozar Mighani changing corners. Will this help his form?
3-2
Maninder comes in an gets a running hand touch again. Deepak Singh the man being sent off now.
Undoubtedly, this is going to come down to which team can defend better. Stats suggest that Bengal Warriors are not ones to go for the tackle and have a low conversion rate when they do.
3-1
Sachin is sent off by Arjun Deshwal. Warriors already down to four men. What was Sachin thinking? An ankle hold with just one hand?
Error error .
2-1
Nabibakhsh is returning from an injury and is tackled by the corner defenders right by the midline. Not a great sign for the imperious Iranian.
1-1
Deepak Niwas Hooda returning in kind as Amit Narwal's advanced tackle ends up being a big mistake.
0-1 Maninder Singh gets a running hand touch and sends Nitin Rawal off
Bengal Warriors will raid first.
7.20PM: LINEUPS:
Jaipur Pink Panthers: Arjun Deshwal, Deepak Singh, Vishal, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Naveen, Sahul Kumar, Nitin Rawal
Bengal Warriors:
Maninder Singh, Darshan J, Amit Narwal, Rohit, Mohammad Nabibakhsh, Abozar Mighani, Sachin Vittala
7.10pm: Here's what the points table looks like. Bengal Warriors were at the top at the end of week 1 and now find themselves in the bottom half. Thats just how brutal this sport can be.
As you wait for the match to begin, here's a throwback to a 2019 interaction we had with
Dharmaraj Cheralathan (then with the Haryana Steelers and now part of the JPP unit). The 46 year old (yes, you read that right) is the oldest player in the league and will give some of the youngest and fittest players a run for their money. Check it out.
7PM: Acquaint yourself with the squads of both teams -
6:45PM - FORM GUIDE:
Bengal Warriors began on a confident note with two consecutive wins but something turned off in the team's collective function from their third game, against the Bengaluru Bulls, which saw them slump to three consecutive defeats - two of those being heavy defeats too. Dabang Delhi inflicted a 17-point defeat on Maninder's men while Patna Pirates also made merry, winning that clash by 14 points. The team is in desperate need for a win to keep morale high and their title defence on track. Maninder has had to do a lot of the heavy lifting and the team needs to figure out more support for their skipper. Mohammad Nabibakhsh has been brilliant when fully pumped in the game and his quiet patches tend to do more harm than good as it allows gaps for opponent to get in and steal points. The defence was hapless against Delhi and Patna and there remains a lot of work to be done if this team wants to hold on to its PKL crown.
Jaipur Pink Panthers: JPP got off to a wobbly start this season. Gujarat Giants beat them in the opening encounter with the team looking unsure of its roles on the mat. They bounced back in their next game against Haryana Steelers which famously panics when it takes the lead allowing Jaipur to sneak a win. They got the better of Pardeep Narwal's UP Yoddha too before falling to a formidable defence lead to Fazel Atrachali in their game against U Mumba. Jaipur has slowly started forming combinations and Arjun Deshwal often singlehandedly pulls them out of sticky situations. Deepak Niwas Hooda seems quite comfortable in the allrounder mould, rallying his forces through difficut passages of play. They will need to put their best foot forward against a hurting Bengal Warriors outfit which will want to roar its way back to form on the mat.
6:30pm - If you're new to the PKL caravan and are wondering what super raids, super tackles, bonus points, do or die raids are, we have you covered.
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