In what turned out to be a nail-biting clash, UP Yoddhas went down with a slender margin of 5 points 29-34 against Patna Pirates on the first day of the second leg of Pro Kabaddi League season 9 here at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune.
Star raider Pardeep Narwal notched up yet another 'Super 10' on Friday, his third of the season. It was a treat to watch today when he did a 5 Points 'Super Raid' on his former team which helped him earn 'Most Valuable Player' and 'Perfect Player of the Game' awards. In the end, the UP Yoddhas had to pay the price for some defensive errors at crucial moments of the match.
Pardeep Narwal, Rohit Tomar and Surender Gill earned 12, 5 and 4 points respectively from the game. The one point gained from the match however improved their position to eighth on the table from the ninth position that they had begun the day with. They now have 19 points from seven games so far.
UP Yoddhas decided to defend after winning the toss and started on a slow note as they trailed by 4 points in the early minutes where the scorecard was read 7-3 in favor of Patna Pirates. However, the first Super Tackle of the match inflicted by Nitesh and company followed by some touch and bonus points from Pardeep and Gill deficit the lead to just 1 point with 4 minutes left in the first half but Patna Pirates somehow managed to end the first half in their favour 13-11.
That gap soon widened to eight upon commencement as the UP Yoddhas suffered the first 'All Out' of the match. Then with just over 12 minutes left on the clock, the one and only Pardeep Narwal executed a five-point 'Super Raid' to narrow the gap to 20-21.
With less than 10 mins left the scores were tied 23-23 and with five to go the Patna Pirates had regained a two-point advantage to go up 27-25.
A super tackle by the UP Yoddhas brought the scores back level at 28-28 with two minutes to go and with just over a minute left the Pirates called for a time out being a point ahead. With Patna Pirates raider coming in for a final raid, another defensive error by the UP Yoddhas meant that they suffered a second 'All Out' and with that all hopes of winning the match and the game ended in Patna's favour 34-29.
UP Yoddhas will next play Telugu Titans on October 31, 2022. The match will be broadcast LIVE on Star Sports Network and can be streamed LIVE on Disney Hotstar.
( With inputs from ANI )
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