Sachin was all guns blazing as Patna Pirates put the defending champions Bengal Warriors through the wringer with a scoreline of 38-29 on the final day in vivo Pro Kabaddi League Season 8’s Rivalry Week.
Sachin scored a sensational Super 10 (11 points) and was well complemented by Guman Singh (7 points) in the raiding unit. The Pirates’ defence was in top form too with Mohammadreza Shadloui picking up a High 5. The victory propelled Patna Pirates to spur to top of the points table. The three-time champions are now favourites to clinch a top-2 finish which will give them a direct entry into the Season 8 semi-finals.
Bengal Warriors had looked clueless and had yet another poor day on the mat with both their defence and attack struggling. They will now need to ensure they win all the remaining matches of the season to stand a chance of making it to the eliminators.
Pirates controlled the first half with a collective performance. Their raiders Sachin and Guman Singh found easy mistakes from the Bengal defenders to give an early lead. Bengal’s raiders including Maninder Singh had no similar luck at the other end with Mohammadreza Shadloui manning the left corner. Bengal staged a small comeback when Abozar Mighani and Manoj Gowda pulled off two tackles. But Patna were relentless in their pursuit for that ALL OUT and got it with 2 minutes remaining for halftime. The scores were 21-10 at the interval with Bengal in desperate need of inspiration.
Pirates carried their dominance after the break. Their raiders slowed down the pace of the match while defenders ensured there were no slip-ups. Bengal’s Maninder Singh struggled to make an impact as Patna left corner Mohammadreza Shadloui picked his High 5 (6th of the season) in the 8th minute. Even the usually reliable Ran Singh in Bengal’s left corner was having an error-prone night. But despite the dominance, the Pirates failed to inflict another ALL OUT.
The winners had an 8-point lead with 5 minutes remaining in the match. Sachin clinched his Super 10 as the Pirates finally secured their second ALL OUT. That opened the lead to 11 points. The Patna team kept calm in the dying minutes to ensure they won the match.
