Pro Kabaddi League: Patna Pirates pile misery on Bengaluru Bulls

Bengaluru: Bengaluru Bulls’ campaign hit the skids in the fourth edition of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League going down to champions Patna Pirates 23-38 at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here on Thursday evening. In their fifth consecutive loss and third at home in a flagging season, the hosts were outplayed by a menacing Pirates in front of their home crowd.

After eight games, Pirates jumped to second place in the table with 31 points while Bulls languish in the sixth place with 22 in ten matches. Eyeing a win, Bulls appeared to be on a roll taking a lead quickly with hosts’ top raider Rohit Kumar striking early. But the defending champions fought back through Pardeep Narwal’s stunning raids. Midway through the first half, the interesting contest picked up pace with Pirates’ defence making a mockery for Bulls’ raiders. The Pirates began their onslaught at the end of the first half to take a 16-11 lead. Bengaluru raiders continued to struggle against a well-knitted Pirates’ defence to be all out.

In the last 15 minutes, Bulls were all out twice to record a humiliating loss again. Earlier, having slipped down to fifth in the table, U Mumba staged a timely recovery to outwit Jaipur Pink Panthers 29-23. A near-packed house witnessed raider Rakesh Kumar (7 points) along with skipper Anup Kumar (5) and Suresu Kumar (5) fire Mumba back into the top four. For the Abhishek Bachchan-owned side Pink Panthers, Rajesh Narwal (7) and captain Jasvir Singh led a fight back which wasn’t simply enough.

Results: Jaipur Pink Panthers: 23 lost to U Mumba: 28; Bengaluru Bulls: 23 lost to Patna Pirates: 38.