5 talking points from Day 74 of PKL 5

The VIVO Pro Kabaddi League will soon be drawing to a close and we are one step closer to crowning the 2017 champion. The news kids on the block, Gujarat Fortunegiants, have punched above their weight and booked a place in the final. The Patna Pirates also eliminated the Puneri Paltan in the eliminator. Sportskeeda analyses the 5 talking points from both matches.

5. Gujarat Crush Bengal

The Fortunegiants sealed their spot in the final of VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 5 with a 42-17 victory over Bengal Warriors at the DOME@NSCI SVP Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday. The opening quarter of the contest was a little slow with neither side getting into their rhythm. Gujarat did have a 7-6 lead after 10 minutes but the match was still delicately poised and anyone’s for the taking. Then Gujarat slowly and surely began to dictate the match on their own terms.

4. Warriors taken Prisoner

Bengal had to wait till the 28th minute for the first points of the second half courtesy of another super tackle that reduced Gujarat’s advantage to 22-12. But they faltered from there and the Fortunegiants seized the opportunity and never looked back from there. While Gujarat were rocketing away, Bengal slowed almost to a crawl. While the former raced to 38 points, the latter were struggling at 16 points. Bengal were dominated in terms of raid points, tackle points and all out points. Bengal do have another shot at reaching the final as they play the Patna Pirates next.

3. Exit Puneri Paltan

The Puneri Paltan were up against the Patna Pirates who were the surefire favourites. The Paltan knew that they were out of their depth but they decided to go down fighting. Pune started off the match well. They picked up from where they had left off on Monday. They picked up three quick points and sending both Narwal and Monu Goyat packing. Pune's Deepak Hooda put up a fight but Narwal’s sheer dominance handed Pune their first All-Out at the stroke of the first quarter to give Patna a 10-6 lead. Pune’s offence and defence combined brilliantly to tie the score at 12-12 by the 15th-minute mark. Soon after, Pune handed Patna their first All-Out seconds before halftime to take a 6-point lead.

2. Pardeep Narwal Star of the Show

Pardeep Narwal led from the front and scored a game-high 19 points that crushed Pune’s title chances. High on confidence after his record-breaking display against Haryana Steelers last night, Narwal put on back-to-back match-winning performances when his team needed them the most.

All 19 of his points were touch points as Pune’s defence failed to come to grips with his incisive movement and clinical raiding. His most crucial raid though was a four-point super raid that swung the game entirely in his team’s favour, while taking the stuffing out of Pune. Narwal peaking at the business end of the season is definitely a positive for the double defending champions and not good news for Bengal, who’ll face them in the second qualifier in Chennai on Thursday.

1. Patna vs Bengal a Look Ahead

The 2-time defending champions are the surefire favourites coming into Thursday's match. The Bengal Warriors were reeling from their loss to the Fortunegiants but will be hoping to pull off an upset against the Pirates. Warriors captain Surjeet Singh is the best cover defender and the second-best overall defender this season and will be assisted by Ran Singh who needs to come out of his recent slump in form. The raiding department is at its finest led by the effervescent Maninder Singh, who is in the form of his life. Supporting him are Jang Kun Lee and Deepak Narwal, both of whom can inflict serious damage.

The defending champions have star raider Pardeep Narwal as a crucial armament in their arsenal. During the match against Pune, Patna was ahead in the raid point and the all out points, but Pune made up in the tackle points. So this is something that the Pirates need to watch out for.