Patna Pirates, boosted by their convincing victory yesterday over Dabang Delhi, managed yet another win today in Season 2 of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi today. They managed to subdue Puneri Paltan 32-28 with a total team effort in the absence of their leader Rakesh Kumar. Sandeep Narwal, Deepak Narwal and Ravi Dalal were at the forefront of the hosts’ attack which eventually clinched them the issue. This gives them a tally of 17 points with three wins and pushes them up the table at fourth place. Pune by virtue of a point have a tally of nine points now.
But the limelight was deservingly hogged by Pune raider Pravin Niwale who is growing in stature with every outing. The slightly built man with his twinkle toes and deceptive hand touches scored nine points and was instrumental in forcing an all-out which was confirmed through a video referral. He kept his team in the hunt till the end. The half-time score of 13-20 for Pune was worrying as their prime raider Wazir Singh was caught time and again. Wazir could hardly muster four raid points on the day but contributed two catching points to make up some lost ground.
Things changed after the break as Patna had all its raiders warming the bench. Pune gradually whittled down the lead to finally get an all-out and make it 24-25. But the winners aware of this kept themselves ahead with substitute Gurvinder Singh getting a couple of bonus points. At the ‘final five’ stage- 35th minute to be precise the situation was 29-26 in favour of the Pirates with Niwale still troubling them no end. He got a touch on Sandeep Narwal to keep the pressure but a bonus by Ravi Dalal and Wazir’s inability to pull out anything special finally gave the Pirates a victory to keep their quest for a top finish going.
At the post match press conference, stand-in captain Sandeep Narwal was appreciative of the home support Patna Pirates have been getting. “The support from the crowd here in Patna has been fantastic and it has given us the confidence to build on our good performances. We are looking to push ahead from here because the team is doing very well and we want to continue this good run.”
Looking ahead to the final match tomorrow in the Patna leg, vs Bengal Warriors, Sandeep was hopeful of a good showing. “They (Bengal Warriors) are a good unit and they have pushed all the teams that they have played so far to the line. We will not get carried away with these two victories that we have earned at home. Each team has to be treated with respect and so we will formulate our strategy based on their starting lineup tomorrow.”
MATCH 26 – PATNA PIRATES VS PUNERI PALTAN
| No. | Award | Player/Team |
| 1 | TVS BEST RAIDER OF THE MATCH | PRAVIN NIWALE (PUNERI PALTAN) |
| 2 | BAJAJ ELECTRICAL INSPIRING DEFENDER OF THE MATCH | AMIT HOODA (PATNA PIRATES) |
| 3 | PATNA PIRATES MOMENT OF THE MATCH | PRAVIN NIWALE (PUNERI PALTAN) |
| 4 | VIP FRENCHIE BIG IMPRESSION PLAYER OF THE MATCH | RAVI DALAL (PATNA PIRATES) |
| 5 | DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY DUMDAAR ATOM AWARD | AMIT HOODA (PATNA PIRATES) |
| 6 | FLIPKART AUDIENCE KI WISH PLAYER OF THE MATCH | SANDEEP NARWAL (PATNA PIRATES) |
(additional photos attached)
Watch Season 2 of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi LIVE on Star Sports 2, 3, HD2, HD3 and hotstar.com from 7:50pmonwards
Star Sports Pro Kabaddi – Points Table after Matches 25 and 26 as of 1st August
| POS | TEAM | PLAYED | WIN | LOSS | POINTS |
| 1 | U MUMBA | 7 | 7 | 0 | 35 |
| 2 | TELUGU TITANS | 7 | 5 | 2 | 26 |
| 3 | BENGALURU BULLS | 7 | 5 | 2 | 25 |
| 4 | PATNA PIRATES | 6 | 3 | 3 | 17 |
| 5 | DABANG DELHI | 7 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
| 6 | PUNERI PALTAN | 6 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| 7 | JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS | 6 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| 8 | BENGAL WARRIORS | 6 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
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