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With the two main stars missing on the mat – last year’s most prolific defender, Surendra Nada and the costliest player in the history of Pro Kabaddi, Monu Goyat – Haryana Steelers had their task cut out against the Pardeep Narwal-led Patna Pirates in their home den at the Pro Kabaddi League 2018 on Sunday.
Starting 7:
Patna Pirates – Pardeep Narwal, Vishal Jaglan, Vikas Kale, Vijay, Manjeet, Jawahar, Jaideep.
Haryana Steelers – Naveen, Mayur Shivtarkar, Parveen, Prateek, Vikas Kandola, Sunil, Kuldeep Singh.
Substitutes used:
Tushar Patil, Deepak Narwal, and Manish from Patna Pirates. Sachin Shingade and Bhuvneshwar Gaur from Haryana Steelers.
Toss:
Haryana Steelers won the toss and chose the court.
Pardeep Narwal opened the match by taking the 1st raid point for the home team and also achieving the milestone record of 700 raid points. In the course of the match, he overtook Rahul Chaudhary and became the most successful raider in the history of PKL.
5 minutes into the game, the scoreboard read 5-4 with Haryana in the lead and Pardeep Narwal picking up his game by taking a 3-point raid for the home team. Pardeep Narwal had just started to pick up steam but the jersey pull by a Haryana defender led the Dubki King to pick up only 1 point, while he could’ve picked up more points in that raid.
Desperate to put Pardeep on the bench, Haryana Steelers attempted a Super tackle at 11 minutes and got successful. The scoreboard read 8-7 with Haryana in the lead. There was a clear strategy to put the star raider off the mat for the maximum amount of time and capitalize on his absence.
Though they got successful against Pardeep, Haryana were still staring at an all-out with just 3 men on the court. But they converted it to a Super tackle by taking in Manjeet from Patna Pirates. Haryana Steelers seemed to be playing a very defensive game. They advanced their score to 12, creating a difference of 4 points.
Vikas Kandola, with a smart head on his shoulders, led with his successful raids and great tackling strategies. Haryana Steelers built up their team back and got saved from an all-out. With 5 minutes remaining for the half-time, Haryana Steelers tackled Pardeep Narwal again. The score was 15-10 with Haryana in the lead.
With their raiding proficiency at half-time, Patna Pirates made the difference count to only 2 points. It was game on! This Haryana team was not going to roll over. In fact, they were looking more balanced than the early favourites Patna Pirates.
After half-time, Vikas Kandola’s team did a Super tackle on Pardeep Narwal yet again and pushed the score difference back to 5 points. 5 minutes into the second half, Patna wasted their review and Haryana extended their lead to 6 points. The game was drifting away from the home team. Meanwhile, the Haryana coach got a green card for coaching during the match.
With 14 minutes left, Patna Pirates were in danger of an all-out with just 3 men on the court. Desperate to get back into the game, they took a Super tackle by pulling on to the jersey of Vikas Kandola and, in turn, the referee handed over a point to Haryana. Vikas Kandola finally made a Super Raid, inflicting an all-out with just about 11 minutes remaining on the clock and took the score to 20-28.
Patna were then in shatters and their coach got a green card for on-court coaching. It was interesting to see how the Pirates responded to this all-out. But, it was Haryana who came up with another Toofani Super Raid, pushing the difference to 10 points.
Pardeep was tackled again and Patna’s over-dependence on their star captain meant the 2nd all-out of the match for the home team. This was perhaps one of those days where Pardeep spent more time on the bench rather than the mat.
With a lead of 14 points and 5 minutes remaining, the Haryana raiders started to run down the clock. In a desperate attempt to fetch quick points, Pardeep yet again fell prey to the Haryana defense. Haryana’s defense had over-performed on this night. Vikas Kandola captaining his side scored a well-deserved Super 10. Kuldeep Singh showcased a stellar performance with a High 5, which included 2 Super tackles.
The 3-time defending champions lost the match on the home ground against a determined Haryana with a score of 32-43.
The Patna defense looked toothless on Sunday night with Jawahar and Vikas Jaglan putting in unnecessary tackles. Pardeep had no support in raiding and looked a lone warrior in the offense.
With back-to-back losses, Patna Pirates will look to bounce back in their next match against Telugu Titans. Haryana Steelers got their season back on track with a spellbinding display of grit and determination in both offense and defense. Naveen was outstanding with 9 raid points and 3 tackles while Vikas Kandola led the side with a Super 10.
Haryana need to maintain this momentum in order to climb up the points table.
