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The Patna leg of the seventh edition of the glittering Pro Kabaddi League kicked off last night at the Patliputra Sports complex with the home team Patna Pirates taking the mat against Abhishek Bachchan's Jaipur Pink Panthers.
With the crowd painted in green and yellow cheering for their beloved team, the Pirates failed to make a mark on their very first night in Patna. The Pirates gave away a trouble-free victory to the Pathers, eventually succumbing to their brilliant raids. With the score 34-21, Jaipur emerged triumphant in the face-off.
In a sloppy start for the green army, neither the defense nor the offense impressed. On the other hand, Jaipur were in a top-class form with the likes of Deepak Hooda, Ajinkya Pawar, Amit Hooda and Deepak Narwal striving tirelessly to end the game seamlessly in their favour.
Pardeep, who was still not able to complete the 900-point mark, fell short of a Super-ten by merely a point. Hadi, who had a superb campaign in the league so far, was left in a puddle in front of Jaipur's raiders.
Hadi's compatriot Mohammad Esmaeil Maghsoudlou also had a disappointing performance last night as the defense of Pink Panthers kept him off the mat almost throughout the clash. Sandeep Dhull did not fail to blow minds after scoring eight tackle points against the Pirates, helping Jaipur win their fourth straight match of PKL 2019.
The Pirates lacked team balance since the very inception. When asked about the pressure on the team and especially on Pardeep Narwal, Ram Mehar Singh said, "It was not one of our best performances but we'll try our best to win the upcoming matches. Both raiders and defenders failed to stand up to the expectations."
Stressing on the need of their raiders to step up, he replied, "Our raiders cost us the victory today. They could have done much better than their game tonight."
When quizzed about Jaipur's strategy against the Pirates, Ram Mehar responded, "They did a pretty good job throughout the match. However, Patna inflicted super-tackles on multiple occasions but it was simply out of hands to stop the raiders of Jaipur."
Patna will lock horns with Anup Kumar's Puneri Paltan tonight in the second battle, who are still looking for their very first win of the seventh season. The men in green will look forward to winning the face-off.
Prior the home team's match, Ajay Thakur's Tamil Thalaivas will play against coach Rakesh Kumar's Haryana Steelers in the first encounter of the day.
