U.P. Yoddha put in an excellent all-round performance led by Prashanth Kumar Raid and substitute Azad Singh to overcome Patna Pirates 47-31 at the Tau Devilal Sports Complex in Panchkula on Sunday. Rai finished with a Super 10 from the match while Azad Singh scored a critical Super Raid in the dying seconds of the first half on his way to scoring 8 raid points in the contest.

Patna Pirates scored the first four points of the game but U.P. Yoddha played well with a 5 player setup to keep picking up bonus points through Shrikant Jadhav and Prashanth Kumar Rai and level the scores at 4-4.

Check out the photos from the match here.

Jadhav then managed a 2-point raid before Nitesh Kumar’s Ankle Hold to send Pardeep Narwal to the bench reduced Patna Pirates to three men on the mat. A Super Tackle initiated by Vikas Kale on Sachin Kumar and Vikas Jaglan’s successful Do-or-Die raid gave Patna Pirates an 8-7 lead in the game then as they looked in control of proceedings.

However, Jeeva Kumar’s Block on Manjeet started an excellent spell for U.P. Yoddha where they managed to reduce Patna Pirates to four men on the mat before two successive two-touch-point raids by Rai helped U.P. Yoddha inflict the All-Out in the 14th minute and take a 15-10 lead.

U.P. Yoddha kept Pardeep Narwal in check once Patna Pirates reassembled on the mat but Manjeet took charge of the offence in that period and returned a Super Raid with little more than two minutes left on the clock. A tackle on Rai and Pardeep Narwal’s touch point on Jadhav then reduced U.P. Yoddha to a solitary player on the mat with Patna Pirates eyeing an All-Out before halftime, but Azad Singh put in a Super Raid in the closing seconds of the half to help U.P. Yoddha avoid an All-Out and hold on to their advantage at halftime with the scores favouring them 22-17.

Azad Singh then kept up his momentum in the second half as he and Sachin Kumar reduced Patna Pirates to three men on the mat after two minutes of the half and then inflict another All-Out in just the next minute to gain a sizeable 29-18 lead in the match.

Visit the matchcentre to relive the contest here.

The next four minutes saw U.P. Yoddha surge ahead and score 9 points, including an All-Out by Jadhav, while conceding only three to take complete control of the match at 38-21. Patna Pirates kept picking up points after that to cut into the lead and go a step closer to inflicting an All-Out, but U.P. Yoddha’s raiders Rai and Jadhav helped their side strike back and maintain the lead.

With the scores at 45-29 and little more than a minute left to play, Jadhav pulled off an excellent tackle on Tushar Patil to showcase his defensive prowess. Manjeet then reached his Super 10 in his side’s penultimate raid of the match with a Toe Touch on Sachin Kumar but his efforts on the night weren’t enough for Patna Pirates to avoid a 47-31 defeat in the match.

Top Performers –

U.P. Yoddha

Best Raider: Prashanth Kumar Rai (10 raid points)

Best Defender: Sachin Kumar (5 tackle points)

Patna Pirates

Best Raider: Manjeet (10 raid points)

Best Defender: Vikas Jaglan (4 tackle points)