Patna Pirates move to the top of the table with a dominating win over U Mumba. The Season 2 winners will now go back home and look to move into the play-off spots. They are currently in 5th position with 27 points, 2 behind Telugu Titans in 4th.
FT: Patna Pirates 34-24 U Mumba: Captain Dharmaraj Cheralathan led from the front and won SEVEN tackle points for his team. Rajesh Mondal’s 8 points cancelled out Jeeva Kumar’s 4 points in defence while Rishank’s late surge ended in vain, too!
SUPER TACKLE! 40’ Patna Pirates 34-24 U Mumba; What drama at the end! U Mumba tackle Rajesh Mondal to reduce their lead to just 8 points. Rishank, however, is tackled by the rock-solid Kuldeep Singh to the delight of the Pirates fans.
39’ Patna Pirates 32-23 U Mumba; Rishank Devadiga gets 2 points for his team, but they still trail by 9. Can they decrease the deficit to 7 or less to bag a point? Patna Pirates are on the verge of an all out, but time is on their side.
U Mumba are 2 points away from Telugu Titans, who occupy the fourth spot. It seems like they’ll have to wait for their home leg to close the gap. Patna Pirates fans, meanwhile, are celebrating at the stadium.
38’ Patna Pirates 31-21 U Mumba; A 5-point run for the Season 2 winners has seen them close the gap. But, it seems to be a case of too little, too late as Patna look set for move to the top of the table.
SUPER TACKLE! 34’ Patna Pirates 31-18 U Mumba; Anup Kumar’s team are facing an all out now, but they, too, conjure up a super tackle. Rajesh Mondal is the victim this time!
SUPER TACKLE! 29’ Patna Pirates 27-14 U Mumba; This team does not know the meaning of the word lose. Despite being down to just 3 men, they tackle Anup Kumar in a super tackle. What a performance by the Pirates. Nothing is going right for U Mumba tonight.
26’ Patna Pirates 24-12 U Mumba; After a blitzkrieg by Patna, mainly through Rajesh, Rishank comes alive. The Mumbai local gets 2 points in his last 3 raids to mount a comeback for the Season 2 winners.
ALL OUT! 21’ Patna Pirates 22-9 U Mumba; A second all out on Anup Kumar’s team. This time it is Pardeep Narwal who completes it as U Mumba surrender to the youngster. Game over?
This man has been SENSATIONAL tonight! 6 points for Rajesh Mondal in the first half.
HT: Patna Pirates 19-8 U Mumba; The defending champions look in solid touch today against the off-colour U Mumba. Rajesh Mondal is causing most of the damage, but the Pirates’ defence hasn’t let them down either. Nobody from the opposition has been able to score more than 2 points! Coach Bhaskaran Edachery has plenty to work on at the interval.
SUPER RAID! 19’ Patna Pirates 18-7 U Mumba; Rajesh Mondal, take a bow! The former Bengaluru Bulls star continues the damage by reducing the opponents to just 2 men on the court! Another all out on the cards for Patna.
17’ Patna Pirates 15-6 U Mumba; The hammering continues and this time it is 19-year-old Pardeep Narwal who does the damage. As soon as the U Mumba team were revived after the all out, Pardeep sends two of them back with his boisterous raid.
ALL OUT! 15’ Patna Pirates 12-6 U Mumba; The first all out of the game has been completed and it is the defending champions who lead by 6 points now. Suresu Kumar’s raid was unsuccesful, but he wins a bonus for his team.
14’ Patna Pirates 7-5 U Mumba; Suresu Kumar fails to return from his raid and that revives Rajesh Mondal, who comes in and straight away wins a point for the champions. They are getting into the groove now.
It will be a sentimental match for both teams as Rakesh Kumar is playing against his former team and so is Fazel Atrachali. Both the teams contested the final, too, in the previous season. Let’s see who comes out on top in this match.
10’ Patna Pirates 5-5 U Mumba; The 3-time finalists are back on level terms in this match, which is swinging more than a pendulum. Rajesh is sent to the bench by the U Mumba defenders.
8’ Patna Pirates 5-4 U Mumba; Rajesh Mondal wins 2 points for the Pirates to give his team the lead. Looks like he is carrying his form from Bengaluru into this match as well. Anup Kumar, meanwhile, comes off the bench to make it 4-5 through a successful raid.
5’ Patna Pirates 2-3 U Mumba; Patna’s first points come through defence as former U Mumba star Fazel Atrachali gets his ex-captain out, catching him unaware with a sensational back hold
3’ Patna Pirates 0-2 U Mumba; The dangerous Pardeep Narwal is sent to the bench right after Suresu Kumar won a point for the Season 2 winners. U Mumba have the lead early on in the match.
1’ Patna Pirates 0-0 U Mumba; Patna Pirates won the toss and invited U Mumba to attack. Bonus ka Baadshah Anup Kumar starts the proceedings with an empty raid. Patna Pirates, too, begin with an empty raid through Rajesh Mondal.
The battle lines have been drawn. Off the mat, the reigning champions have emerged victorious. What will happen in Kolkata when both the teams take to the mat? Stay tuned to find out.
Good Evening to all the kabaddi lovers of the country. Tighten your seatbelts and brace yourself for a thriller as we have a big match on our hands tonight as the second match of the double header here in Kolkata.
Hindi Commentary: Follow Patna Pirates vs U Mumba LIVE in Hindi here
After having failed to win their first match against Patna Pirates in what was billed as the revenge match between the two finalists of last year, U Mumba will go all out to win their encounter starting in a little while at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium.
U Mumba have languished at 4th and 5th position for most part of the season and would like to run up to a place in top 4 with a win here against the Pirates. A look at their past matches tell that U Mumba is regaining the form that had made them the dominant team that they were in their first three seasons.
Patna Pirates, however, recovered brilliantly from their two back to back losses to gain a crucial away win against Bengaluru Bulls in the last match. Although, Rajesh Mondal was at his electrifying best in their last tie, the team would be hoping though that Pardeep Narwal regains his supreme touch ahead of the business end of the tournament.
The defence of Patna Pirates looks as strong as ever and with Surjeet Narwal and Mondal not letting Narwal’s absence felt, the team will back itself to win its third consecutive tie against U Mumba. The team’s record against U Mumba is continuously improving as they didn’t have a single win over the team before last season, but have three now. U Mumba will be keen to add to their five wins over the Pirates.
For U Mumba, Rishank Devadiga’s form will be a matter of concern as well as that of Jeeva Kumar. Luckily, for the team, Anup Kumar has gotten better with each passing match and has found great support in Rakesh Kumar, who was a Patna Pirate till last year. Suresu Kumar too has shown sparks of brilliance, which is a good news for the Mumbai outfit.
Four out U Mumba’s five victories have come in the last five games and the team will be looking to keep its 100% win record at Kolkata intact. Patna Pirates, on the other hand, have six wins out of 8 games and have clearly looked the team to beat in the tournament. The swiftness with which they overcame Narwal’s form issue shows that the team is functioning as a well oiled machine and is determined to defend their title.
If their showing of last and this season is taken into account, anyone would agree that Patna Pirates is fast rising up as the dominant power of Pro Kabaddi, a position that has been traditionally enjoyed by U Mumba. And that’s what provides this match a whole lot of added context
