Bengal Warriors edged U Mumba 32-20 in a see-saw battle at the Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna to move to the fifth spot in the table.
After a tough first half, the Warriors fired as a unit in the second to overcome U Mumba who were aiming for their second straight win.
U Mumba defence started the game well keeping the Bengal Warriors raiders Maninder Singh and K Prapanjan in check. Arjun Deshwal who led the Mumbai side’s attack in absence of Abhishek Singh also chipped away crucial points in his raids to give U Mumba an 8-2 lead after 7 minutes.
Warriors’ Rakesh Narwal prevented the all-out by scoring a two-point raid but Deshwal’s raiding excellence meant the Warriors couldn’t survive for long. Captain Fazel Atrachali tackled Rakesh Narwal in 10th minute to inflict the game’s first all-out and have U Mumba 12-5 in front.
U Mumba’s defence then pegged back any attempts from the Warriors to reduce the deficit before half time as they went into the break with a 16-11 lead.
The game’s turning point though came in the second raid of the half when K Prapanjan scored a super raid to reduce the deficit to just two points for the Bengal Warriors.
A depleted U Mumba was quickly cleaned up as the Bengal Warriors sneaked into the lead at 18-17.
Deshwal though pulled the Mumbai side back in front with three straight successful raids and then helped U Mumba inflict a second all-out on the Warriors with a two-point raid.
With 12 minutes to play, U Mumba led 26-20, but the Bengal Warriors slowly ate into the lead thanks to right corner Baldev Singh who brought up his High 5.
Mohammad Nabibakhsh then tied the score at 27-27 with five minutes to play dismissing compatriot Atrachali before sending the other defensive danger man Surinder Singh back into the hut in the next raid to give his side a slender advantage.
Bengal Warriors then gained a grip on the game by inflicting an all-out on U Mumba in the 36th minute to lead 31-28 before slowing the game down in the dying minutes.
However, substitute Athul MS and Sandeep Narwal scored two crucial points to bring U Mumba within a single point of the Warriors ahead of the buzzer raid.
Mumbai’s hero on the day, Deshwal, couldn’t extend his heroics as he was tackled by the Warriors in the final raid of the match taking the game by a scoreline of 32-30.
Patna end home leg on a high
Patna Pirates posted their first win at home to end their home leg on a high when they thumped UP Yoddha 41-20 in the second game on Friday.
Patna’s star man Pardeep Narwal came to the fore scoring 12 points on the night as he was largely helped by defender Neeraj Kumar who scored 8 points.
The combination of Pardeep, Neeraj and Korean raider Jang Kun Lee fired to give the home side an 8-2 lead after 8 minutes. The advantage became even bigger a minute later when Patna Pirates got their first all-out of the game to lead 11-3.
Neeraj continued his dream form in defence to complete his High 5 with a tackle on Monu Goyat in the 13th minute as the Pirates stretched their lead to 8 points.
UP Yoddha were all-out again just before the interval as the Pirates took a huge 24-9 lead into half time.
Pardeep completed yet another Super 10 in 24th minute helping himself to another milestone in Pro Kabaddi. He became the first raider to score 800 touch points.
UP Yoddha then threatened to stage a comeback in the game but any such hopes were snuffed out in the 33rd minute when Monu scored a super tackle for the Patna Pirates.
The home side kicked on from there to inflict another all-out on UP Yoddha with two minutes on the clock before closing out a 41-20 victory.
The Pro Kabaddi caravan now moves to Ahmedabad on Saturday where Gujarat Fortunegiants face Tamil Thalaivas before Dabang Delhi’s match against Puneri Paltan.