Patna Pirates put the disappointment of two consecutive losses behind them to produce a performance against Bengaluru Bulls that they would be proud of. While their detractors thought that the Pirates had been found out after Pardeep Narwal’s continued poor show in the last couple of matches, the team showed that it was more than Pardeep Narwal’s heroics that made them the power that they appeared in the first five matches.
Narwal had another disappointing day and was quickly substituted, but Rajesh Mondal and Surjeet Singh along with the defence made sure the teenager’s absence didn’t hurt as they trounced the home team by a massive margin of 15 points.
The match started in complete contrast to the first match of the day between Jaipur Pink Panthers and U Mumba. Points came thick and fast when the home team locked horns with the Pirates of Patna. Bulls were on the run from the moment go thanks to Rohit Kumar who took out the best defenders of the Pirates team with his consecutive raids.
But Patna Pirates took off soon as well and Fazel Atrachali showed why he has earned the reputation of one of the best overseas player in Pro Kabaddi when he brought down the flying Rohit Kumar in the 5th minute to put the Pirates into the lead.
After the scoreline was stuck at 5-5 for a while, a super tackle gave the Bulls the two point lead that they desperately wanted. The Pirates, however, were not the ones to give up the chase and, in fact, turned the tables quite quickly to inflict an All Out on the Bengaluru Bulls. Rajesh Mondal made up for the struggling Pardeep Narwal on the offence.
For the Bulls, once again there was little to no support for Rohit Kumar in the offence, and once he was taken off, the raiding reserves of the Bulls looked thin.
The Patna Pirates were adamant about not losing the lead and kept it with them. Dharamraj Cheralathan gave evidence of why his age might just be recorded wrong in the rosters, for his tackles looked better than any 24-year-olds’ in the league, let alone a man of 42. Surjeet Singh also came to the party for the Pirates and earned 4 crucial points in the first half.
What was billed as a contest between two of the highest scoring raiders of the season never actually took off as the defence of both the teams did commendably well to keep Pardeep Narwal and Rohit Kumar quiet in the first half. However, because of Patna’s second go to raider Rajesh Mondal’s fine performance, the Pirates went into the second half with a 5 point lead.
Half Time – Patna Pirates 19 Bengaluru Bulls 14
Pirates’ defender Bajirao Hodage made a rare silly error and conceded an easy raid point to the Bulls as the second half resumed. Rajesh Mondal got the team points on the raid and then foiled a raid attempt by Deepak Kumar Dahiya to cap off a wonderful day. This also meant the second All Out was inflicted on the Bulls and the Bulls looked like they had lost their horns.
Superior defence skills of the Pirates men made sure that the lead leapt up to more than 10 points with more than 10 minutes left on the clock. Pawan Sehrawat was brought in to turn things around for the Bulls and his introduction did see a super tackle on Rajesh Mondal being inflicted, but there was still a yawning gap between the team’s points on the scoreline. The problems only compounded for the Bulls as they were All Out for the third time in the game in the 32nd minute.
Once that was done, the Bulls needed a miracle to bounce back in the match. The Bulls must be complimented for not letting their shoulders droop and making all the efforts to pull things back. But against a defence that boasted of names like Bajirao Hodage, Dharamaraj Cheralathan and Fazel Atrachali, it wasn’t going to be possible. And in the end, Bengaluru Bulls faced another humiliating defeat in front of their home crowds.
Full Time – Patna Pirates 38 Bengaluru Bulls 23
