Pro Kabaddi 2019, Patna Pirates v Haryana Steelers: 5 talking points from the match

The Haryana Steelers brought their Pro Kabaddi League Season 7 campaign back on track with a well-deserved 35-26 win over the Patna Pirates, with raider Vikas Kandola putting in a fine display and grabbing a Super 10 for his team.

For the hosts Patna, their dependency on their star man Pardeep Narwal came to the fore yet again, with the raider scoring more than half (14) of the team's total points on the board and the team looking clearly second best throughout the match except for the last five minutes.

However, it was also a night where a new landmark was created as Pardeep became the first player to collect 900 raid points in the league's history, which highlights why he is loved so dearly by fans and is regarded as the competition's biggest superstar.

#5 Haryana grab initiative after cautious start

The match began with both sides starting off cautiously - much in contrast to the first match of the night. Both teams - Haryana and Patna - looked to play on the do-or-die raids as the first six minutes saw just seven points being scored.

Haryana led 5-2 at the time and they soon upped the ante, changing gears and affecting an all out to leave the home crowd stunned. Dharmaraj Cheralathan got the better of Jang Kun Lee to reduce the hosts to two men and Vikas Kandola completed the all out in the 10th minute.

It was a brilliant effort from the youngster as he was locked down by an ankle hold but did not give up and wriggled his foot out of the challenge, just in time before the support came from the other defender. It was a dream start for the Steelers, who looked in control of the game.

#4 Alarm bells ring for Patna after insipid first half display

The three-time champions have had an underwhelming start to the new campaign and a major reason for it has been the poor performance in attack with the team being heavily reliant on Pardeep Narwal and the secondary raiders not being able to score and gain revivals.

At the break, the score read 17-9 in favour of the Haryana Steelers and incredibly, it was Pardeep who scored five out of nine of Patna's points with South Korean import, Jang Kun Lee grabbing just one and the other raiders failing to get on the scoreboard.

The first half was also a nightmare for the Patna defence, as they picked up just three points. Hadi Oshtorak scored two points thanks to a well-timed super tackle while it was Jaideep, who was the bedrock of the team's title win in Season 5 after a solid display on the left corner, scored just a solitary point.

#3 Clinical Vikas does the trick again for Haryana

The Pirates failed to respond to coach Ram Mehar Singh's fiery team talk at the break and just two minutes into the second half, they were forced to concede yet another all out, putting more daylight between the two teams' scores on the board.

Once again, it was Vikas Kandola who put the finishing touches for Haryana by getting rid of Vikas Jaglan and Mohammad Esmaeil Maghsoudlou with finesse and adding two points to his tally and also two more to his team's by virtue of the all out.

With the effort, Vikas took his tally to six raid points for the match but more importantly, four of them came in super tackle situations with the Pirates defence down to two. He also ensured two all outs for his team, making it even harder for the hosts to make a comeback in the match.

#2 Haryana score much-needed win with all-round display

The Haryana Steelers have not had an ideal start to the Pro Kabaddi Season 7 campaign, picking up just one win and suffering three losses in their first four matches. Coach Rakesh Kumar's charges came into the match against Patna on the back of a three-match losing streak and their display will certainly give them a boost ahead of the next set of matches.

After a good start, they managed to keep the Pirates at bay and despite suffering an all-out in the last few minutes of the match, they had enough fuel in the tank to see out the threat as the match ended 35-26.

Vikas Kandola was the star of the show for the Steelers, ending with a Super 10 on the night. The defenders also got a few points in for the team with Ravi Kumar and Sunil scoring four points each and Dharmaraj Cheralathan picking up three.

#1 Pardeep becomes first to 900 raid points - FINALLY!

It was a performance to forget by the Patna Pirates but one silver lining that they can take from the match is Pardeep Narwal scripting yet another record in Pro Kabaddi League history. He became the first player to breach the 900-raid point mark, something that the broadcasters repeated more times than the points scored by the Pirates themselves in the entire match.

The raider also completed his 46th Super 10, the most for any player already - as he inches closer to his half-century. However, it was just his second Super 10 of Season 7 so far - a testament to how he has not been up to his usual standards and how high he sets the bar for himself.

One hopes that he continues to light up the league as he has always done and can take his team out of the slump that they find themselves in.