Pro Kabaddi League 2018, Match 25: Bengal Warriors v UP Yoddha Player Ratings
The sixth season of the Pro Kabaddi League 2018 witnessed its third tie as UP Yoddha and Bengal Warriors dealt blow for blow in a game that swung like a pendulum and ended with both teams finishing on 40 points at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune.
The Yoddha walked into the game with three losses and faced an uphill task to pick up an important win. However, the Warriors were coming into the contest with a lot of confidence, unbeaten from their last two games.
In the initial stages of the opening half, the scores were level for a majority of the period until the UP Yoddha struck continually to take an 18-15 lead into the break. However, in the second half, both the teams effected an all-out each to keep the match in the balance until the buzzer raid where Prashant Rai was easily given the bonus while facing a one-point deficit that saw the match end in a thrilling tie.
For the Warriors, Maninder Singh top-scored with 16 raid points while Surjeet Singh's wily defense came to the fore as he finished with six points. Prashant Kumar Rai was the man of the moment for UP as he finished with 13 points while skipper Rishank Devadiga notched up nine points as well.
Here are the player ratings from this game.
UP Yoddha
Rishank Devadiga - 8/10
The UP skipper was in his element right through the game but was often put under the pump by his opposite number. He did well to get the better of Surjeet with powerful dives toward his own half. Rishank finished with nine points and kept UP in the hunt.
Prashant Kumar Rai - 9/10
The lanky Prashant Rai was in top form as he outshone his skipper with 13 points to his credit. Rai was in top nick all through the game as he kept nipping away with the bonus points and was also responsible for making sure that UP did not finish with another loss in the end.
Sagar Krishna - 7/10
The left corner defender had his moments as he came in with some strong blocks to keep the Bengal raiders at bay but was also the main target for Maninder Singh.
Shrikant Jadhav - 5/10
The raider was off-color for the most part but his pace and travel on the mat did induce some errors from the Bengal defense. However, his inability to pick points hurt his campaign on the day.
Amit - 6.5/10
The left cover defender looked patchy but was instrumental in helping out the rest of his teammates apart from the two tackle points he picked individually.
Narender - 4/10
Narender's woeful advance tackles hurt his team's cause as the right cover defender's attempts at ankle holds on Maninder went in vain.
Nitesh Kumar - 3/10
Nitesh has had a good season thus far but against the Warriors, the left corner defender was too hasty in his tackles. He failed to keep the Warriors' raiders down and finished with just one point from six tackles.