Defending champions Patna Pirates began the fifth season of Pro Kabaddi with a 35-29 win over Telugu Titans at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad, on Saturday.

The 20-year-old Pardeep Narwal was at his scintillating best as he powered the Pirates with 15 raid points. Narwal was brilliantly supported by defender Vishal Mane, who shut down Titans skipper Rahul Chaudhari. The star raider could accumulate only seven points in the match and missed out on a personal milestone of 500 raid points in the league by one point.

Telugu Titans were looking like the stronger team in the first half and held a 10-7 lead with six minutes left. However, this is where Narwal stepped up and helped his team tie the game 12-12 in the 19th minute. Patna enforced two super tackles in the dying stages of the half to take a 15-14 lead into the interval.

The Titans again began the second half strongly, as they inflicted an all-out early to retake the lead 19-16. However, it was Narwal again who came to his team’s rescue as the Pirates reduced the deficit to one point in the 34th minute.

Narwal then scored three raid points via a dubki in the 35th minute to give Patna a 27-25 lead. The Titans were reduced to another all-out in the following minute, giving the Pirates a 31-26 lead. Patna closed out the match 35-29.

Titans captain Chaudhary was left stranded on 499 career raid points and had a horrible second half, not managing a single successful raid. “I couldn’t give my best,” he was quoted as saying by IANS. “I let the team down. I will correct my mistakes and come back strongly in the next match. My focus was on winning the match, not on achieving an individual milestone.”

Delhi outclass Jaipur

In Saturday’s other match, Dabang Delhi beat last season’s runners-up Jaipur Pink Panthers 30-26 in a tense encounter.

Jaipur began the match strongly as they inflicted the first all-out of the match in the 10th minute. After a series of do-or-die raids, the first half ended with Jaipur leading 16-9. However, Delhi’s captain Meraj Sheykh, Nilesh Shinde and Bajirao Hodage staged a splendid comeback for their team in the second half.

Delhi also brought in Iranian Abolfazl in the second half and that proved to be the difference. Along with Sheykh, the Iranian duo took the match away from Jaipur. The turnaround came in the 21st minute when Sheykh effected Jaipur’s first all-out of the match. Three minutes later, the scoreline was tied. Sheykh wasn’t done yet for the match as he forced another Jaipur all-out.

Delhi eventually won the match 30-26, and this lead their coach Ramesh Bhendigiri to sound a warning to other teams. “Our defence is the best in the Pro Kabaddi league this season,” he said. “This is just the beginning.”

Jaipur skipper Manjeet Chillar said he was confident his team would bounce back. “We made a lot of mistakes today,” Chillar was quoted as saying by the Times of India. “The injury to raider Selvamani only added to our woes. We have a strong team. This is just the first match. We’ll bounce back.”