Pro Kabaddi: Deepak Narwal saves Patna Pirates from jaws of defeat vs Bengal Warriors
Deepak Narwal inspired his team to a spirited fightback, clinching 11 raid points on the night.
Mumbai: In what turned out to be another dominant display from the Patna Pirates, the Bengal Warriors made an unimaginable comeback to salvage a draw from the jaws of defeat.
Patna Pirates captain Pardeep Narwal, who scored 70 raid points throughout the tournament so far, opened the account for his team. Joining raiding with forces with Monu Goyat and Vinod Kumar, Pardeep double his side’s lead by 10-5 in the first 10 minutes.
With star defender Vishal Mane leading the defence and racking up tackle points, the Pirates continued their onslaught with their technical game, the scoreboard leading in favour of Pradeep’s men by 20-9.
However, Narwal stepped up, this time, Deepak from the opposition team that saw Bengal Warriors close the gap 16-25 by 9 points heading into half time.
Bengal Warriors coach Jagdish Kumble's words at the break instilled some confidence in his team as they produced a spirited fightback in the second half. Deepak Narwal changed the complexion of the game with some heroic raids, to close the gap astonishingly to 4 points by 32-36 in no time.
Patna Pirates raider Monu Goyat’s decision to take on the Bengal Warriors defenders in the last raid of the match also proved to be costly, despite an easy option of killing time and sealing off the match by a point. In the end, Bengal Warriors took their chances and pulled off a miraculous tie.
With this result, Patna Pirates and Bengal Warriors sit on the 2nd and 3rd place of the Zone B table respectively with 22 points, 8 behind leaders UP Yoddhas.