The Warriors face Pirates in Kolkata leg curtain-raiser

The Kolkata leg of VIVO Pro Kabaddi gets underway on Friday with hosts Bengal Warriors taking on double defending champions Patna Pirates at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium in Kolkata. It promises to be a mouthwatering contest in light of their exhilarating 36-36 draw a week back. Both teams head into the clash level on points in Zone B and will be in a positive frame of mind after a win in their previous outings.

Match 56 (Zone B): Bengal Warriors vs Patna Pirates

Head-to-Head: Bengal Warriors 1-6 Patna Pirates. 2 draws

Bengal Warriors have made a decent start to the season and will be looking to rise to the summit of Zone B with a win. Their leaders in defence captain Surjeet Singh and Ran Singh will have their work cut out against Patna’s potent attack, while Jang Kun Lee, Maninder Singh and the in-form Deepak Narwal will have to share the responsibility of leading their attack. Bengal are undefeated in their last four matches with two wins and two ties, and that should give them plenty of confidence heading into this match.

The Pirates can also go top of the zone with a win against Bengal, for which they will be desperate having squandered their lead the last time these two teams met. Dubki King Pardeep Narwal, Monu Goyat and Vinod Kumar have all put in stellar performances for the Pirates over the course of the season, while Vishal Mane has overseen the task of organising the defence. They will be expected to do the same on Friday. The fact that the Pirates seek making up for the mistakes they made last week against Bengal gives this rematch plenty of colour and significance.

Catch the action live on the Star Sports network and hotstar from 7.30 pm onwards.