Best Defender of the Match – Amit Hooda (Jaipur Pink Panthers)
Best Raider of the Match – Ajay Kumar (Jaipur Pink Panthers)
FULL TIME Jaipur Pink Panthers 29 – 22 Patna Pirates
40’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 29 – 22 Patna Pirates - Patna have looked terribly off colour tonight and their performance has been reminiscent of that game against Dabang Delhi. It is all a matter of running down the clock for Jaipur and they are doing that just fine. The defending champions are not going to get even one point if they lose by more than seven. Tha game finishes with Patna getting one point. JAIPUR ARE THROUGH TO THE SEMIS. Brilliant.
38’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 29 – 20 Patna Pirates - Patna are down to two men but Jasvir does not show extra exuberance. He decides to force the raid on Patna, who get the bonus but Jasvir charges and gets the touch point off Kuldeep. Patna stare down at another all out as Abolfazel attacks but it is inevitable. ALL OUT!!! Amit Hooda you beauty. That is game set match. Under two minutes to go.
37’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 25 – 18 Patna Pirates - Jaipur review and it is successful as Fazel goes off the mat. The men in pink seize the initiative to pounce on the chance to extend their lead to seven points by tackling down Rajesh Mondal. This has been a stellar performance from Jaipur in the second half. It looks really hard for Patna to make a comeback.
36’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 23 – 19 Patna Pirates - The pace of this game is going to increase here and we see that as Jaipur show urgency to tackle down Surjeet. Jaipur extend their lead by one to take it to four. Jasvir does what he is best at and slows things down. Jaipur are controlling the game and it might well be there night. Pardeep does not get anything and that brings on Jasvir. He strolls in the Patna half to put onus on them. Pardeep raids and succumbs to the pressure put by Amit Hooda. Stunning stuff from Jaipur. They look to be on their way to winning this game.
33’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 21 – 18 Patna Pirates - Pardeep raids for Jaipur and he is looking extra energetic. He knows that he needs to put his dancing shoes on now. Patna have made a lot of mistakes tonight and that could prove to be the difference between the two teams.Things heat up as Surjeet claims he got a touch but Jaipur say no. He is awarded the touch point. Ajay Kumar with another do or die raid and like a robot, he gets the point. This is a breathtaking contest. TIMEOUT
32’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 20 – 17 Patna Pirates - A review by Jaipur and they have conceded three points here. SUPER TACKLE by Patna Pirates on Rajesh Narwal and they have got back into the game. Jasvir raids with two men on the mat but they get the ALL OUT!!! Jaipur have a lead of four points and a lot is happening here and they need to just hold on to the lead.
29’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 16 – 15 Patna Pirates - Now Patna have three men on the mat and if Jaipur can inflict an All Out, it would give them a lot of momentum. Surjeet’s raid, though he claims to have got the touch, goes empty. Jasvir raids with the Super Tackle on and takes it easy. The deficit for Patna is just one point and they are hanging in the game. Kuldeep raids this time and gets the bonus. Do or Die raid for Ajay Kumar and he delivers again.
26’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 15 – 14 Patna Pirates - Jaipur have removed the spearheads of both attack and defence of Patna. Topsy turvy game this and both teams are losing control regularly. Rajesh Narwal has been superb tonight and this time he decides to play safe. Rajesh Mondal raids but gets nothing and forces a do or die raid on Jaipur, who send in Ajay Kumar and he gets TWO POINTS. He has made this a habit here.
23’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 13 – 13 Patna Pirates - The second half starts with a Patna Pirates raid and it is Pardeep Narwal who attacks with Jaipur having just three men on the mat. He gets Shabeer Bapu on the chest. Rajesh Narwal raids and pulls one back for Jaipur by getting Kuldeep. Pardeep reduces them to two again as he gets Bhainswal this time. The onus is on Rajesh Narwal again and he delivers again. This time it is captain Dharmaraj Cheralathan, who makes the mistake. Pardeep again up against three and this time its a SUPER TACKLE!!!
SECOND HALF COMING UP!!! LIVE
HALF TIME Jaipur Pink Panthers 9 – 11 Patna Pirates
20’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 9 – 11 Patna Pirates - Brilliant tackle from Fazel as he blocks Jasvir Singh after an excellent touch point from Surjeet on the Patna raid. The team from Bihar have drawn level again. Shabeer Bapu with a rare raid and like it has been this tournament, he goes back without a point. Pardeep Narwal gets two points on his raid to take down Amit Hooda. Superb from the Patna raider.
18’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 9 – 8 Patna Pirates - A technical point helps Jaipur draw level and this game is like tactical warfare. Both teams are playing on their defence and it is on display again as Amit Hooda blocks Rajesh Mondal to put in another excellent tackle on the night. Jasvir decides to be cautious and spends his raid wasting time. Surjeet goes back without anything to force a do or die raid on Ajay again. Four defenders on the mat for Patna and he makes full use of it by evading Kuldeep’s challenge. Jaipur ahead by a point.
15’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 6 – 7 Patna Pirates - Jaipur draw level with an amazing ankle hold by Amit Hooda on Pardeep Narwal. How good has Hooda been for the men in pink this season. Absolutely superb. Ran Singh kills time with a raid and Dharmaraj follows it up with a similar piece of play. Both teams playing on the defence here. Patna get a techinical point and it is another do or die raid for Ajay without the bonus. He does not need one and avoids a tackle from Cheralathan to get his team level. Rajesh Mondal, another do or die specialist, puts his team ahead again.
12’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 5 – 5 Patna Pirates - Patna have turned it around incredibly and now Jaipur have just four men on the mat. Pardeep follows up Shabeer Bapu’s empty raid with a superb touch point. Patna beginning to take control of the game here and they are full strength now. Super Tackle on for Jaipur and Patna raid through Pardeep. But they decide to play it smart on the do or die raid. Ajay Kumar is thrown into the do or die fire and he looks for the bonus with Atrachali lurking and gets Bajirao. Excellent from Ajay Kumar.
9’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 3 – 4 Patna Pirates - Patna have reduced the deficit to just one point and have not shown any panic. Pardeep Narwal comes on for a do or die raid and looks for bonus but Ran Singh makes a mistake trying to block him but the Patna star gets him. The teams are level and Patna have Atrachali back and the Iranian does the trick by throwing Rajesh Narwal and Kuldeep capitalises. Patna lead.
6’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 3 – 2 Patna Pirates - Rajesh Narwal induces an error from Bajirao Hodage and that is followed by an empty raid from Pardeep Narwal. Jaipur make a substitution to bring on Bhainswal in place of Rohit Rana. Raid for Patna and Amit Hooda gets underway with a lethal ankle hold. Stunning stuff from Jaipur here and they have reduced Patna to four men already. Pardeep looks for the scorpion but does not do anything silly. Do or die raid for Jasvir and he gets held. Brilliant from Kuldeep.
3’ Jaipur Pink Panthers 2 – 1 Patna Pirates – Table toppers Jaipur start proceedings and it is captain Jasvir who raids. He dances around and scalps Fazel Atrachali with a running hand touch. Great start for the team from the Pink City. Rajesh Mondal raids for Patna and he tries to get a runnng hand touch but is unable to. Jasvir comes on again and is more cautious this time. Goes back without anything. Surjeet raids and gets bonus. Excellent tactics.
LET’S GO!!!!
The Patna starting line-up features Dharmaraj Cheralathan, Rajesh Mondal, Pardeep Narwal, Fazel Atrachali, Bajirao Hodage, Kuldeep and Surjeet. Jaipur, on the other hand, start with Jasvir Singh, Rohit Rana, Rajesh Narwal, Ajay Kumar, Shabeer Bapu, Ran Singh and Amit Hooda. We are almost ready to go underway here.
Captain Jasvir Singh saying that there is no fear of Pardeep Narwal and Rajesh Mondal albeit he gives them a lot of respect. The truth, however, remains to be seen as Pardeep Narwal, when he gets going, is almost unstoppable. The threat of Rajesh Mondal cannot be negated easily as well. There are a lot of things that need to be correct for Jaipur Pink Panthers, if they are to win this match tonight.
We are here in Mumbai and the arena is buzzing. This has been an excellent few days of kabaddi in the capital of Maharashtra and things can only get better from here. The first match between Jaipur and Patna looks set to be a cracker and I hope you have got your seat fixed because even a blink of the eye could make you miss some important action.
Catch the live commentary of this match in Hindi here
Hello and welcome to a double header coming from Mumbai and what contests we have at hand. In the first game of the day table toppers, Jaipur Pink Panthers are going to face second-placed Patna Pirates. ThePanthers would know that despite their current standing in the league table, a place in the top 4 is still not assured. And that is a testament of the kind of the competition this season of Pro Kabaddi has produced. If Jaipur lose today, they will see Patna rise to the top of the table.
Hence with just one match to go after this, one can expect Jaipur Pink Panthers to pounce at the Pirates with all their might. They have worked really hard and given their fans some really good kabaddi to be in this position and they would not be willing to give it away at any cost.
The team, though, have to play out of their skins for the team in front of them is the one that has faced the least number of defeats in the tournament and has the most number of wins as well. They put up a scratchy show against an unpredictable Dabang Delhi in yesterday’s game and have to raise the bar if they hope to come on top against Patna in this all important game. They will surely look to their previous encounter for inspiration where they won 26-21 even without their skipper and prime raider Jasvir Singh.
Patna Pirates have been away from action for a while and will be fresh coming into the match. There is hardly anything that has gone wrong for Patna Pirates this season and the only thing the team will be up against is the law of averages, which hasn’t yet caught up with this team. Barring their two losses, where they were exposed as a result of Pardeep Narwal’s poor showing, they haven’t shown any signs of weakness yet. The team has benefitted greatly from their captain Dharamaraj Chelarathan’s good form.
The 42-year old has been as good in the defence as anyone in the league and his calm head is one of the reasons the team was able to regroup easily after their two shock defeats. Rajesh Mondal has come out of the shadows of Pardeep Narwal and has carved a niche for himself in the second half of the fourth season. Pardeep Narwal too showed signs of recovery from the mid-season slump in form in the match against Bengal Warriors where he fell just 1 short of a super 10.
History is in Patna’s sights as they have traditionally dominated the Panthers as their record of five wins out of eight games would reveal. Can Panthers turn the tables and become the only team to win two games against Patna this season?
