A date with destiny awaits two teams in the VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 8 final.

PKL’s most successful franchise, the Patna Pirates, will look to claim the throne for the fourth time in franchise history, while Dabang Delhi will be eyeing that elusive title a season after missing out in a heartbreaking fashion.

The two best teams in the league stage will slug it out for supremacy in the final. But who will finish on top when it matters most?

Check out our preview for the biggest Panga of the year:

Final: Patna Pirates vs Dabang Delhi

The Patna Pirates have put together a historic campaign. They finished the league stage with 86 points, 11 more than second-placed Dabang Delhi, a new PKL record. Their score difference of +120 is the third highest in the league’s history and their tally of 16 wins during the league stage has been bettered by only one team in PKL (Gujarat Giants with 17 in Season 6). 

The key to their incredible success this season has been their defence. The Pirates’ defensive unit need just five tackle points to surpass U Mumba’s tally of 289 from Season 6 and break the record for most tackle points in a single season. The onus of leading Patna’s incredible defence will be on Left Corner Mohammadreza Chiyaneh. The rookie set a new PKL record with his 10th High 5 in the Pirates’ semi-final win over U.P. Yoddha, surpassing the previous mark set by Surender Nada and Surjeet Singh in Season 5. An 11th will likely lead the Pirates to an unprecedented fourth PKL title.

Standing in Patna’s way are the only team to do the double over them this season. 

Dabang Delhi beat the Pirates twice in Season 8 and held them to under 30 points in both matches. While they were stellar in both games against the Pirates, they had an up-and-down campaign overall. The defence and Naveen Kumar’s injury hindered them this season, but they managed to overcome both issues and booked their berth in the playoffs with two games to spare. 

In the semi-final against the Bulls, Delhi’s defence had one of their best outings of the season, as they picked up 11 tackle points. Naveen, after underwhelming outings in his final three league stage appearances, scored 14 points to guide his team to victory. Delhi has the psychological edge over Patna, but they will have to bring their A-game to usurp them in the final. Delhi are 40 minutes away from their maiden VIVO PKL title, but they will have their task cut out to go one better than they did in Season 7.

PKL Schedule for Friday, February 25

Final: Patna Pirates vs Dabang Delhi, 8:30 PM IST

Where to watch VIVO Pro Kabaddi live?

Catch all the LIVE action from vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 8 on the Star Sports Network and LIVE streaming on Disney+Hotstar.