Best Defender of the Match – Fazel Atrachali (Patna Pirates)
Best Raider of the Match – Rajesh Mondal (Patna Pirates)
FULL TIME Bengaluru Bulls 23 – 38 Patna Pirates
40’ Bengaluru Bulls 23 – 38 Patna Pirates – Rohit Kumar gets the bonus but it is useless as the game is long gone. Patna’s empty raid is followed by a tackle on Rohit by who else but Fazel Atrachali. What a win by Patna Pirates here. They have condemned Bengaluru to a huge defeat here.
39’ Bengaluru Bulls 22 – 37 Patna Pirates - Play is resumed after a timeout with just three minutes to go and Kuldeep runs down the clock yet again. Ashish Kumar is tackled by Patna and who else but Fazel Atrachali in the act again. This game is looks like a foregone conclusion now and Bengaluru are heading towards another defeat here. Do or die raid for Patna and Mahesh Goud gets tackled by Mohit Chillar. Goud has done his finger here. A minute to go.
37’ Bengaluru Bulls 21 – 36 Patna Pirates – A diving double thigh hold by Dharmaraj Cheralathan stretches Patna’s lead to 15 points. Sumit Singh, young and buoyant, is getting points one after the other but it is not enough. Kuldeep raids but knows how to run down the clock. Rohit Kumar attacks as Patna have just five men on the mat but Kuldeep and Dharmaraj perform an exceptional tackle to take him down. Just not Rohit’s night.
34’ Bengaluru Bulls 19 – 33 Patna Pirates – ALL OUT!!! Dharmaraj Cheralathan comes on to raid with just Surender Nada on the mat and the Bengaluru captain does not have a chance. Patna are showing the form of the first five games and this is without Pardeep Narwal has not attacked. This is stellar stuff. Play resumes with Sumit Singh attacking for Bengaluru Bulls and gets one back.
32’ Bengaluru Bulls 17 – 30 Patna Pirates – Bengaluru Bulls are down to three men and they have a do or die raid and Pawan Kumar does not get anything. Rajesh Mondal raids with just two men on the match and his nimble feet are stopped by Surender Nada. SUPERT TACKLE. Rohit Kumar revived and comes to attack but is sent back again. This is disappointing.
29’ Bengaluru Bulls 15 – 27 Patna Pirates – This is getting worse for Bengaluru Bulls and they are struggling without Rohit Kumar. The defence has been terribly off colour and are putting in bad tackles one after the other. Patna are running away with the game. 12 point lead for Patna and Rohit has been off the mat for 17 minutes. Patna Pirates are running down the clock here and Bengaluru do not have raiding options.
26’ Bengaluru Bulls 14 – 24 Patna Pirates – Rajesh Mondal follows his successful raid by getting a tackle in and then Patna effect an ALL OUT. THis is a ten point lead for Patna. Play resumes and Rohit Kumar straight away gets a touch point and Bengaluru tackle the Patna raider in the next piece of play. Rohut attacks again and gets tackled down by Fazel Atrachali and co. What a tackle. Too much pressure on Rohit.
23’ Bengaluru Bulls 12 – 18 Patna Pirates – The second half begins with Ashish Kumar raiding for Bengaluru and a clumsy error by Bajirao gives the home side a point. Rajesh Mondal attacks with four men on the mat. Is it not surprising that Patna have a five point lead without Pardeep Narwal scoring a single point? Rohit Kumar, on the other hand, has been stellar for Bengaluru but they are still trailing. Do or die raid and Rajesh Mondal comes on to raid. GETS IT!! He just can’t be stopped.
HALF TIME Bengauru Bulls 11-16 Patna Pirates
18’ Bengaluru Bulls 11 – 14 Patna Pirates – Bengaluru are not playing particularly well but they have managed to stay in the game and keep Pardeep Narwal quiet. Will this persistence help them get that elusive win tonight? Bengaluru review a bonus point call and get it right. Deficit stays two points only.
15’ Bengaluru Bulls 10 – 12 Patna Pirates – Rohit Kumar comes on and gets Bajirao Hodage to reduce deficit to just two points. You have to realise how important Rohit is for the home team here. He comes on again after an empty raid by Rajesh Mondal but this time a collective effort by the Patna defence pins him down. What an amazing tackle that was. Bengaluru get one technical point.
12’ Bengaluru Bulls 8 – 11 Patna Pirates – Do or die raid for Bengaluru Bulls and Sumit tries to jump but is pinned down. Do or die raid for Patna and Super Tackle on for Bengaluru and Rajesh Mondal delivers again by getting Mohit Chillar. The teams are level. Rajesh Mondal comes on again with Bengaluru having two men on the mat. It has all turned around and Patna are sniffing an All Out. Pawan cannot do much. ALL OUT!!!!
9’ Bengaluru Bulls 7 – 5 Patna Pirates – The home side gets one back but Patna are sniffing an All Out here. Ashish Kumar gets the bonus to draw his team level and Bengaluru Bulls deliver a SUPER TACKLE. Bengaluru get one more man back on the mat and go into the lead as well. Rajesh Mondal comes on with four men on the mat but it is an empty raid.
6’ Bengaluru Bulls 3 – 5 Patna Pirates – Bengaluru’s stellar start is stopped by Patna and after they draw level, Fazel Atrachali puts Rohit Kumar out of the game to take his team into the lead. Deja vu for Bengaluru Bulls? Pardeep Narwal raids with just 4 men on the mat for the Bulls but does not get anything. Sumit Singh’s empty raid brings on Rajesh Mondal for a do or die raid and gets the point.
3’ Bengaluru Bulls 3 – 1 Patna Pirates – The away team get things underway and the customary empty raid is effected. Rohit Kumar comes on to a huge roar and straight away gets off the mark as Bajirao is unable to match up to his strength. Surjeet Singh gets things level but Rohit gets a touch on Dharmaraj Cheralathan to get his team ahead. Pardeep Narwal‘s first raid of the night results in a superb tackle by the Bengaluru defence.
LET’S GO!!!!
Bengaluru Bulls starting line-up: Rohit Kumar, Surender Nada, Mohit Chillar, Ashish Kumar, Deepak Dahiya, Jeeva Gopal, Sumit Singh
Patna Pirates starting line-up: Pardeep Narwal, Dharmaraj Cheralathan, Rajesh Mondal, Fazel Atrachali, Kuldeep Singh, Bajrao Hodage
U Mumba have won an excellent game against Jaipur Pink Panthers and showed why they are the most consistent team in the history of the league. Let’s turn our attention to the second game tonight. It is like Robert Lewandowski vs Luis Suarez, given how good Rohit Kumar and Pardeep Narwal have been for their team. Can Bengaluru get their mojo back tonight? Let’s find out!
Catch the live commentary of this game in Hindi here.
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, we are back with tonight’s second game between Bengaluru Bulls and Patna Pirates.
Things are not looking great for the home team coming into this game as they have lost both matches on their own turf. Bengaluru Bulls are languishing at sixth place in the points table and it seems as if nothing is going right for them. Given how small the margins of error are in kabaddi, it is not surprising that Bengaluru Bulls are not doing well despite having stellar performing stars like Rohit Kumar and Mohit Chillar in their ranks.
Just to give you an insight to Bengaluru Bulls’ problems, Mohit Chillar has the most number of successful tackles in the tournament (30) and Rohit Kumar is number one on the list of most successful raids (49). The team from Karnataka has shown a tendency of letting go of leads and imploding suddenly, despite being in a strong posiiton. Yesterday’s game against Jaipur Pink Panthers depicted this lack of being clinical quite clearly as Bengaluru slipped after gaining an early lead.
There has been too much dependence on Rohit Kumar and Mohit Chillar, and whenever they go off the mat, things go bad for Bengaluru Bulls and they tend to give in. Tactical errors have also been at the helm of their failures in Pro Kabaddi Season 4. There are a lot of things going right for them but critical ones going wrong cost Bengaluru Bulls quite heavily. Whether or not they will be able to cope with Patna remains to be seen.
Talking about Patna Pirates, the team from Bihar has played some scintillating kabaddi this season and the way they started off, it seemed as if they would qualify for the semi finals even before hitting double digits in matches. However, two back-to-back defeats at the hands of Dabang Delhi and Jaipur Pink Panthers have pushed Patna on the backfoot. They are currently third on the points table but have a game in hand and a win tonight would put them on top.
If you keep the two indifferent performances in their losses aside, Patna have been the team to beat in this tournament and have clicked in all departments. Led by the never exhausting Dharmaraj Cheralathan, Patna Pirates have literally trampled opponents by fearless rading and exceptional tackling. Pardeep Narwal has been stellar in attack and is arguably the best raider in the league. He is ably supported by Rajesh Mondal, who delivers well from Do or Die raids.
KEY TALKING POINTS
Bengaluru Bulls
Tonight, their star raider, Rohit Kumar will be up against Bajirao Hodage and Fazel Atrachali of Patna Pirates. So, Bulls should try to attack more from the right side and for that they need their left raiders to fire.
Patna Pirates
Raiders Pardeep Narwal and Rajesh Mondal will have to up their game as they will be facing the duo of Surender Nada and Mohit Chillar tonight. Both should try to attack the cover defenders of Bengaluru Bulls. Their 3rd raider, Kuldeep Singh will have to contribute more in raiding department.
