Pro Kabaddi League 2018, Match 132: Bengal Warriors vs U.P. Yoddha | Match Preview, Predicted Lineups, When & Where to Watch
In the final match of the league stage of PKL 2018 the home side, Bengal Warriors takes on the U.P. Yoddha in a Zone B clash at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium in Kolkata today, Thursday at 9 pm IST.
This match is an eliminator encounter for the Yoddhas. If they win then they'll become the third team from Zone B, and sixth overall, to make it to this season's playoffs, but if they lose then Patna Pirates would qualify to the playoffs with a better point tally (55).
If the match ends in a tie, while the overall points of the Yoddhas and the Pirates would be the same, 55, but the Pirates would qualify for the playoffs on account of a better score difference.
This match would also be critical for the Warriors if the Bengaluru Bulls' lose their 8 pm encounter against the Jaipur Pink Panthers by a margin greater than 7 points. If that happens, the Bulls' would finish their campaign with 73 points, and give a chance to the Warriors to finish at the top of Zone B.
For that to happen, the Warriors would need to win their match against the Yoddhas, which would take them to 74 points, one point ahead of the Bulls, and help them finish at the top of the Zone B standings. That would allow them direct entry into the Qualifiers on the virtue of finishing their zone with the maximum points.
Previous Meeting(s):
The two teams, Bengal Warriors and UP Yoddha, have faced each other twice before in the ongoing season, and both the matches (Match 25 and Match 49) ended in a tie with scorelines of 40-40 and 30-30 respectively.
Key Battles to keep an eye on
#1 Shrikant Jadhav (left raider) vs Baldev Singh (right corner)
#2 Maninder Singh (right raider) vs Sachin Kumar (left corner)
Probable playing 7
Bengal Warriors: Ran Singh (c), Maninder Singh, Jang Kun Lee, Ravindra Ramesh Kumawat, Ziaur Rahman, Surjeet Singh, and Baldev Singh
UP Yoddha: Nitesh Kumar (c), Azad Singh, Shrikant Jadhav, Prashanth Kumar Rai, Narender, Jeeva Kumar, and Sachin Kumar
When and where to watch: 21:00 IST on the Star Sports network and on digital streaming platform Hotstar.
Catch the latest updates of the Pro Kabaddi Points Table here at Sportskeeda.
Follow the PKL Live Match Updates from Bengal Warriors vs UP Yoddha match here