Pro Kabaddi League 2018, Match 36: Patna Pirates vs U Mumba Review | 27 October 2018

Siddharth Desai in action. [Photo: ProKabaddi.com]

After winning the last match in the home leg, Patna seems to be on the outlook for winning this match as well. But the big question is, will they be able to sustain the onslaught of the in-form Siddharth Desai?

Starting 7:

Patna Pirates – Pardeep Narwal, Jaideep, Vikas Jaglan, Vikas Kale, Vijay, Manjeet, Jawahar.

U Mumba – Siddharth Desai, Rohit Baliyan, Fazel Atrachali, Dharmaraj Cheralathan, Surender Singh, Abhishek Singh, Rohit Rana.

Substitutes used:

Kuldeep Singh from Patna Pirates and Vinod Kumar and Darshan Kadiyan from U Mumba.

Toss:

U Mumba won the toss and chose the court.

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Siddharth Desai and Pardeep Narwal both opened the accounts for their respective sides as expected. 5 minutes in the game and the score read 5-4, with Patna Pirates in the lead. U Mumba was looking ahead to an all-out at this point with just 3 men on the mat. Both teams were playing the patience game and concentrating only on do-or-die raids. 

With 7 minutes in the match, bringing all his experience to the fore, Dharmaraj Cheralathan executed a Super Tackle getting the lead back for U Mumba at 5-6. Rohit Baliyan added 2 points to the U Mumba score to make it a 3-point difference.

It seemed like an intense seesaw battle with none of the sides giving even an inch to the other. 

In the second quarter of the match, Pardeep Narwal got Super Tackled in a do-or-die raid by Fazal Attrachali giving 2 points to U Mumba. Patna fought back to even out the score at 10-all.

Pardeep Narwal’s heroics forced an all-out on the Maharashtrian side with just 90 seconds remaining in the 1st half. U Mumba, grabbed few quick points to level the score at 14-all, at halftime.

Pardeep Narwal trying to score against U Mumba. [Photo: ProKabaddi.com]

Siddharth Desai started the second half with a raid point but gifted a 2-point Super Tackle to Patna by accidentally stepping out in the side lobby. Pardeep Narwal finally came back with his trademark Dubki to snatch 2 more points off Mumbai. Soon after, Abhishek Singh got tackled and the score settled to 20 – 17 with Patna in the lead.

The stage was set and the Patna captain obliged by scoring 4 points for the team in a Super Raid by taking out the experienced U Mumba duo - Fazal and Cheralathan. Score 25- 18, needless to say, Patna in lead and U Mumba with 2ndall-out in the game.

With all 7 players back on the court, U Mumba went full throttle. Siddharth Desai picked up a Super 10 with 6 minutes remaining in the game. Couple of crucial tackles by U Mumba defense made it a 1-point game at 33-32 with Patna in lead.

Vikas from Patna Pirates came up with a Super Raid, adding 3 points to the team’s account, restoring the lead. At 2:30 minutes remaining, Pardeep and Siddharth Desai both got tackled. 

The game as if picked up pace. 90 seconds on the clock and the score was 38-all. In the last 45 seconds, U Mumba executed a crucial tackle on Vikas Jaglan to take the lead by 1 point. Patna Pirates played a high defensive line not allowing the raider sniff off the cross line. Jaideep blinked and Siddharth Desai sent him on the bench to hand a 2-point lead to U Mumba with 6 seconds remaining. 

Rohit Baliyan in action. [Photo: ProKabaddi.com]

Fazel Atrachali sacrificed himself tactically to hand U Mumba, probably, their biggest victory of Season 6. The scoreboard read 39-40 at the end of the game.

U Mumba taking the win by 1 point from the home team. Incredible performance!

Siddharth Desai was not only the Raider of the match but this game also became the Raider of the season. Fazel Atrachali won the defender of the match title.

This match promised to be a cracking game with world class raiders on each side and it didn’t disappoint, with both local superstars Pardeep Narwal and the new protégé Siddharth Desai scoring Super 10s. It was U Mumba’s Captain, Fazel Atrachali, who made the difference with timely tackles and grabbed the win for the Maharashtra outfit. Patna will be hurting and will like to rectify this as soon as possible.

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