Bengal's defence sinks Patna

After taming the Pink Panthers by a margin of 23 points the Patna Pirates were ready for yet another conquest, their target none other than the wounded Bengal Warriors this time. Languishing right at the bottom of the table with only 3 wins and 15 points, the Warriors seemed completely different side altogether. With the Warriors making the most out of their brilliant defence, it was Rakesh Kumar's Pirate ship that was sunk by the Bengal Warriors 28-30.

It was Day 3 in the beautiful city of Vizag, and the crowds had swamped the stadium yet again. Vociferous in their support for the Patna team, thanks to their on-field fireworks last night, the atmosphere was electrifying. As the Referee blew the whistle and the fourteen Kabaddi troops prepared for a head-on collision.

A battle between Patna's attack and Bengal's defence, it was Bengal's only slim chance to remain in the race for the qualifying stages. The Pirates launched the first assault as they captured Warrior Sunil Jaipal followed by Rakesh Kumar's spectacular aerial jump, marking his first successful raid of the night. The Captain of the Patna Pirates came good yet again as he failed Shyam Singh Sha's ankle hold and walked off into his home territory with panache. Stepping up their efforts, Patna's star raider and the most successful Pirate of the first half Rakesh, took down Nitn Madane, this time as an anti. Sandeep Narwal joined the party as he took an amazing leap over Sachin Khambe, ousting the Bengal Warrior. A huge blow for Patna, Rakesh Kumar injured his ankle while tackling Warriors' Mahendra Rajput. By the tenth minute, even though Patna had a two-point lead, the Bengal team played like true warriors not leaving any margin for error. Nilesh Shinde utilized his experience by capturing Gurvinder Singh, equalising the score 9-9. A retaliating Patna team effectively used Sandeep Narwal and took the score to 14-11 by halftime.

A relatively uneventful first half made way for the second, Patna lost Ravi Dalal to Bengal's spotless defence and were left a three-men army. But Sandeep Narwal had plans of his own as he captured Nilesh Shinde in his first outing of the half. Bengal's worries increased as Rakesh Kumar joined the game after taking some time off to cater to the sore ankle. Deciding to overlook the injury Rakesh trapped Mahendra Sing Rajput in a brilliant tackle. Bengal seemed to have regained confidence as Mahesh Goud scored one successful raid after the other, getting his team two Patna Antis along with the first set of LONA points- four points that changed the face of the game. Patna lost focus as Rakesh Kumar and Ravi Dalal were both brilliantly captured by the Bengal Warriors. As the final whistle blew, Bengal had nosed ahead by 2 points ending the night at 30-28.