Welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Lavanya Lakshminarayanan and I will be taking you through today's PKL 8 match between Patna Pirates and U Mumba.
Patna goes to the top of the table with this win. The league continues to get interesting as we move along. Join us for tomorrow's matches too. Until then, take care, mask up and stay safe.
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MATCH SUMMARY:
I needed a minute to catch my breath there. Patna Pirates has completed a 20 point, yes you read that right, win here. This is an insane show of strength by Ram Mehar Singh's men. We keep talking about Patna's raiding department but their defence stepped up tonight and gave Fazel Atrachali's boys a massive reality check. U Mumba was ordinary, to be polite, and without ace raider Ajith Kumar, the U Mumba attack had absolutely no bite today. Unfortunate to miss someone like Ajith in a match as crucial as this. U Mumba's five-game unbeaten run ends with a thorough drubbing at the hands of Monu Goyat and Co. Here's a quick look at the stats from this clash.
23-43
Monu, the substitute, took Mohsen off the mat to really stamp Patna's dominance in this game.
23-42
Shivam is tackled down by Neeraj again for his eighth tackle point. U Mumba looks mentally and physically done.
18 point difference. Under 40 seconds to go.
23-41
Neeraj Kumar takes out Abhishek Singh
23-40
Fazel is taken out. U Mumba is all but out
23-39
Mohsen is taken down for another SUPER TACKLE to Patna. Sajin is given a yellow card for holding Mohsen's neck and will be spend the last few minutes of the game on the bench,
23-37
Sachin Tanwar is brought down by a heap of U Mumba defenders and his dangling hand can't do anything her
22-37 SUPER TACKLE.
Sajin goes for Abhishek Singh's waist and pulls him down and he gets an assist from Neeraj too he struggles for a good 10 seconds to try and drag himself past the midline. He is distraught after missing out and has his face in his hands on the bench.
22-35
Abhishek gets one solitary point. Not enough. Under three minutes to go.
21-35
Abhishek Singh takes out Sunil leaving Patna with three men on the mat now. U Mumba focusing on cutting that gulf to seven points? Three minutes to go.
20-35
U Mumba defence had a real chance to restrict Prashanth Kumar Rai but the Pirates skipper is far too strong. He escapes Fazel Atrachali and has the power to thwart Mohsen too. Two points to Patna. This is far too lopsided an encounter.
20-33
Mohsen Maghsoudlou gets a kick on Neeraj Kumar in the left corner. This is not Neeraj's regular position and Mohsen doesn't care. Valuable points.
19-33 SUPER TACKLE
AND Abhishek Singh will rue this. He almost had Shadlou, he knew the corner was coming for him! And Abhishek is off the mat. It looks like Shadlou also goes off the mat completely. Patna is reviewing this. Referees think Shadlou should go to the bench with Abhishek. REVIEW UNSUCCESSFUL. U Mumba gets a point for that error from Shadlou but Patna will reap the benefits of his solo dash.
18-31 SULTAN ROARS. Fazel gets a hold on Sachin Tanwar's ankle and turns him around. LOVELY. Quintessential Fazel.
17-31 Nicely done here by Abhishek as he draws an amateur error from Monu Goyat who hastily runs to dash Abhishek. Uncalled for.
16-31
Abhishek takes out Sajin C. Simple straightforward raid here.
10 minutes remain. Patna leads by 16 points. U Mumba has just five raid points today. Abysmal (can't sugarcoat this, sorry)
About that second review U Mumba took, perhaps it was because replays were inconclusive that U Mumba lost that review, but I am a little baffled by some of the TV umpire decisions this season, simply because, sometimes the optics of the review tell one story but umpires go with another opinion. This one was a lot closer but I would love to see PKL allow us some mics in the TV umpire's console so we see how they make their decisions.
15-31
Abhishek Singh takes out Neeraj Kumar as Abhishek uses his back as a springboard to get off to safety.
14-31
Sachin Tanwar comes in and seems to have taken out two U Mumba players. Mohsen seems to believe Sachin Tanwar went out and came in from the outside. Can they be lucky second time around. Mohsen went in the tackle and failed. Ashish dashed him off and reviews show that no part of Sachin's body is in contact with the lobby. Again, we've often see TV umpires go the other way. Let's see if this review goes in U Mumba's favour. Good set of reviews nevertheless.
REVIEW UNSUCCESSFUL. This is bad news for U Mumba as the lead now is 17 points to Patna.
14-29
Abhishek gets the better of Shadlou here. He yanks Abhishek's ankle but gets no support and Abhishek gets past the midline comfortably.
12-29 Oops. Fazel is out of bounds there.
Not good for U Mumba but U Mumba is appealing that Monu has stepped into the lobby without a touch point. He might be going, but he wants to take Monu with him. Will the referees concur?
YES THEY DO. Fazel is off, as is Monu.
12-28
If you think Fazel has aggression, look at Mohammadreza Shadlou! He gets a strong hold on the U Mumba raider's ankle and there's no chance. I wonder what Fazel thinks about his compatriot's rhythm here.
12-27
Ashish Sangwan gets a hold on Sachin Tanwar's ankle and Fazel's dash does not have to do much. Nicely done.
11-27
The Patna Pirate defence holds off Abhishek's attempt at a dubki and cuts him out. Abhishek is turned around and squashed down!
11-26
Patna gets a bonus point.
11-25
Abhishek Singh finally has a point as Sunil goes off the mat. U Mumba has erased big deficits before and everyone knows U Mumba needs Abhishek to step up. No better opportunity than this game.
10-25 HI FIVE FOR NEERAJ KUMAR
as he takes down Harendra. This is far too easy for the Pirates
10-24
U Mumba and Patna have picked up a bonus point each
9-23 Rinku is the last man standing. Can he pull off an encore of that brilliant solo tackle? NOPE . He tries to go for the ankle hold again on Monu but Monu slips out with ease. U MUMBA ALL OUT. AGAIN.
9-20 Prathap is taken down in the middle of the mat. There was no chance. Sajin and the defence has done well
Rajaguru Subramaniam to his team
HALF TIME: It's been a Patna Pirates master class all along. The men in green look all set to take this win with ease and go to the top of the table. The difference between the two sides has been the raiding department. Ajith Kumar, U Mumba's imperious raider, is absent today due to an injury and never has a team felt a player's absence more than U Mumba has missed Ajith today. Abhishek Singh has looked mediocre and won't be able to help his team's cause if this continues.
9-19 OH YOU JUST HAD TO WATCH THIS TO BELIEVE HOW BRILLIANT A TACKLE THIS IS. Sachin Tanwar comes in to raid with two U Mumba players on the mat. His pressing style of play sends Harendra off the mat with Rinku being the only man left. Sachin pursues Rinku along the left corner but the U Mumba defender settles for an ankle hold. Knowing Sachin's momentum in this match and his strength, this is an easy all out you might think, right? WRONG. Rinku is set in cement here in the middle of the mat and some insane core strength sees him rooted to the spot with Sachin stranded in the middle. The clock runs out.
SUPER TACKLE. THE MOST SUPER OF SUPER TACKLES. Fazel Atrachali is pleased as we see a sparkle in his eyes for the first time this evening.
7-18
SHADLOU! WHAT A BEAST! Sunil gets a single thigh hold on Shivam and Shivam almost takes him across the midline but Shadlou comes in from the other side and turns Shivam around to deny him the point.
7-17
Ashish Sangwan comes in to raid and almost gets a touch on Sunil. Should he have tried better here?
7-17
Sachin Tanwar is aggressively pursuing both chains. Fazel breaks the chain and tries to dash Sachin off but does not get a hold of the man at all and it's easy points for Patna.
7-16
Abhishek Singh goes in for a do or die raid and is brought down yet again. Neeraj comes in with a double thigh hold. Horror run continues for Abhishek
7-15 Prashanth Kumar Rai is brought down by the chains. The right chain tempts him in and Fazel breaks formation to round him up. U Mumba has to depend on its defence now. The raiders have just not been able to make an impact for the men in red.
6-15
Do or die raid for U Mumba and Mohsen goes in. Shadlou almost pretends to slip seemingly and takes one good hold of Mohsen's legs and that's that. This is a carnage.
6-14 OOOF.
Ashish gets a hold on Sachin and Fazel charges from the other end of the mat to dash Sachin down.
5-14 SUPER TACKLE.
Harendra Kumar and Fazel Atrachali come together to bring down Monu Goyat. Valuable two points for U Mumba
3-14
Prathap runs straight into Neeraj and the gulf in the Patna defence and drowns in a circle of green. He tries to jump over Neeraj but has nowhere to go.
3-13
Patna Pirates descend on Abhishek Singh. Brilliant block from Neeraj and the pile follows. Abhishek is stuck.
3-12
Rinku makes an error again and sent off the mat.
3-11
Patna Pirates have dashed out Mohsen Maghsoudlou. Shadlou gets a hold on his compatriot's ankle and Neeraj comes in with the assist.
3-10
U MUMBA ALL OUT. Can you believe it? So one sided. Sachin Tanwar has effected an all out! He has cleaned up the two men left on the mat. Ridiculous!
3-6
Prathap gets a bonus and a touch on Shadlou! Wow. Impressive.
1-6
Sachin Tanwar takes down Mohsen and Fazel. My word. Despite Fazel turning him around, Sachin turns him and gets past the midline. Both Iranians go off and Fazel is very disappointed.
Ajith Kumar has 59 raid points this season. BOY is U Mumba going to miss him tonight! Prathap S, his replacement, starts with an empty raid
1-4
Monu gets a touch on Rinku on the right corner. A slide on the toe.
1-3
Mohsen Maghsoudlou gets U Mumba's first point of the night with a bonus
0-3
Abhishek Singh comes in for a do or die raid and is tackled. Neeraj Kumar initiates, the other green shirts rally around him.
0-2 HIGH QUALITY from Prashanth Kumar Rai. He takes out Harendra Kumar and one more defender as he flies through the midline. Patna's do-or-die raid efficiency is above 70 per cent. Very enviable.
0-0 Monu Goyat starts proceedings with an empty raid. Abhishek Singh follows suit with an empty raid himself. He is without Ajith today and will be under pressure to carry this team through the 40 minutes of play.
--------------------
7:30pm - A quick reminder of what the points table looks like:
BIG NEWS: No Ajith Kumar for U Mumba
7.25pm: LINEUPS:
U Mumba: Abhishek Sijgh, Prathap S, Harendra Kumar, Rinku, Fazel Atrachali, Mohsen Maghsoudlou, Ashish Sangwan
Patna Pirates: Monu Goyat, Neeraj Kumar, Sajin C, Prashanth Kumar Rai, Sachin, Sunil, Mohammadreza Chiyaneh
7.15pm: Patna Pirates: Dare I say this Patna unit is looking like the most balanced outfit in the PKL this season. Their raiding and defensive showing has been looking better with each passing game and will give U Mumba a good quality test on the mat today. Monu-Prashanth-Sachin's raiding trio has been consistent but the more heartening aspect is how this team as a unit has stepped up in defence. In The match up I am looking forward to, well, not direct match-up but you know what I mean, is Fazel Atrachali vs Mohammadreza Shadlou
7pm: U Mumba is unbeaten in its last five games. That three of those games were draws tells a story of its own. Fazel Atrachali's men have looked progressively better through the season. Fazel himself has opened up more in defence while Ajith Kumar's high energy raiding has bolstered the Mumba attack. In seven games, U Mumba has three wins and a loss to its name and is placed fifth. The side needs to stop being so unsteady with results and work towards consistency.
Fazel after U Mumba's big win over Telugu Titans: Every match is different, we're taking it one by one. If we don't come with a plan, we can't do anything. For every second, we need to have a plan. This is a long season, we need to keep going. We have 50 days more in this league and have plans each of those days. I think we will play better going forward.
6.50pm: Here's something to keep you busy while we wait for action to begin today. Monu Goyat's brilliant 7-point raid
6.30pm: We have something interesting for you to do before we sit down to watch our second match tonight. The 2022 Sportstar Aces Awards are coming up and your favourite athletes and teams need your help to take home the top honours. From Neeraj Chopra and Mirabai Chanu to the Indian hockey team and Chennai Super Kings - star performers from 2021 are nominated over five popular choice categories and need your vote. CLICK HERE TO MAKE YOUR CHOICE COUNT.
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