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It was a cracking day for kabaddi fans, as the playoffs of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 5 got underway with two eliminators. While the Puneri Paltan won a closely-fought encounter with the UP Yoddha 40-38, Patna Pirates completely demolished the Haryana Steelers 69-30. Lets take a look at some of the key moments from both the matches.
Deepak Hooda, Rajesh Mondal mount the Pune comeback
The two raiders of Pune, Deepak Hooda and Rajesh Mondal, have been as consistent as ever, winning them the crucial raid points. Both Deepak and Rajesh scored 15 raid points between themselves, in a tight match, that ebbed and flowed both ways. However, they were able to win points at the crucial stages of the match, to take the Puneri Paltan to the Eliminator 3.
Girish Maruti Ernak a rock in the Puneri Paltan defence
Girish Ernak was simply outstanding on the night. His tight defence made the difference at the end of the day, as the Puneri Paltan came out as the winners in the end. Girish got yet another Super 5 to his name, as he terrorised the opposition raiders like Rishank Devadiga and Nitin Tomar. The Puneri Paltan defender scored a total of 7 tackle points in the match.
Surender Nada’s miserable form
One of the main reasons for the Haryana Steelers’ capitulation against Patna Pirates was the poor showing that their captain Surender Nada dished out. Haryana, who are generally known for their tight defence, were completely out done, as the likes of Pardeep Narwal and Monu Goyat ran riot.
Surender managed just one tackle point on the night, registering 7 unsuccessful tackles in the process. Pardeep and Monu were easily able to get a touch on him, and send him back to the bench. By half time, Surender had spent 9 minutes and 55 seconds on the bench.
Without his defensive organization, the Haryana defenders were sitting ducks in front of Pardeep Narwal.
Patna Pirates’ high defensive line
The Patna Pirates employed a high defensive line against the Haryana Steelers, to give them as little space as possible. This was especially useful, when they had all seven players on the mat, and the opposition raiders had the chance to score the bonus points. However, the high defensive line starved the opposing raiders of the opportunity to score the bonus, which increased pressure on them, as they kept making mistakes.
Patna registered as many as 14 tackle points in the entire game, as compared to Haryana’s three. Their superior defensive display essentially helped them to inflict five All Outs on the Haryana Steelers.
Pardeep Narwal: The man, the myth, the legend
Pardeep Narwal was absolutely on fire. He scored point after point, going on to break the record for the most number of raid points scored in a match. The previous record was held by Rohit Kumar of Bengaluru Bulls. However, Rohit’s record barely lasted a week, as Pardeep surpassed him to register 34 raid points on the night.
The Patna Pirates captain stepped up his game at the correct moment, to end the losing streak that his team was facing towards the end of the group stage. Such rampant was Pardeep’s form on the night, that he single handedly inflicted an All Out on Haryana, as he took six of the opposition defenders out, scoring a total of 8 points in that single raid.
With Pardeep in such good form, and the Patna defence registering tackle points by the dozen, it was littler surprise that the Patna Pirates ran riot on Monday.
