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Patna Pirates will face their Zone B opponents, the Bengal Warriors in the final match of the Patna leg at the Patliputra Sports Complex.
The Warriors are coming off a win (39-28) against the Jaipur Pink Panthers in their previous encounter and would be eyeing all 5-points from tonight's encounter to go back to the top of the Zone B standings.
Bengal has slowly improved into a well-rounded lineup with significant contributions from the attack and the defence. While Maninder Singh has been spearheading their attack, contributions from Mahesh Goud and Jang Kun Lee have been vital and even consistent.
The defence of the Warriors, although inconsistent, has slowly improved their performance and coordination and would look to tame Pardeep Narwal & co. in tonight's match.
Vijin Thangadurai and Manoj Dhull did not perform well in their previous match and may be replaced by Ziaur Rahman and Shrikant Tewthia respectively.
The Patna Pirates, on the other hand, would be wanting to leave their fans on a high with a win in their final match at home.
The injury sustained by Pardeep Narwal, the Pirates' captain and star raider, in the match against the Telugu Titans, had hampered his performance in yesterday's match against the Bengaluru Bulls as he could manage just 3 raid points of his 12 attempted raids. While Deepak Narwal and Manjeet Singh stepped up with Super-10s, they couldn't hold on their nerves to lose yet another encounter in the final moments of the match.
The defence of the Pirates has improved match-upon-match, and they have become a strong unit with consistent performances from the left corner, Jaideep and the right cover, Vikas Kale.
Here's hoping that Pardeep features in today's match and the injury to his left-hand doesn't hamper his raiding prowess much against a strong Bengal Warriors defence.
Key Battles to keep an eye on:
#1 Pardeep Narwal (left raider) vs Shrikant Tewthia (right corner)
#2 Maninder Singh (right raider) vs Jaideep (left corner)
Probable playing 7:
Bengal Warriors: Surjeet Singh (c), Maninder Singh, Mahesh Goud, Jang Kun Lee, Ziaur Rahman/Vijin Thangadurai, Ran Singh, and Shrikant Tewthia
Patna Pirates: Pardeep Narwal (c), Manjeet, Deepak Narwal, Vikas Jaglan, Vikas Kale, Jawahar/Ravinder Kumar, and Jaideep
When and where to watch: 20:00 IST on the Star Sports network and on the digital streaming platform, Hotstar
