MUMBAI: Patna Pirates’ classy raiders and solid defensive work proved too strong for Tamil Thalaivas to rattle, resulting in a resounding 35-24 victory for the former in ProKabaddi League here on Saturday.
Monu Goyat weighed in with an effective 11 raid points, helping his side overcome a tentative show by skipper Pardeep Narwal (six raid points), with support from catcher Jaidip (five).
The runaway win lifted Pirates to 27 points after a fourth win in seven matches so far in Zone ‘B’, within catching distance of leader UP Yoddas (30 from 11 games). Thalaivas captain Ajay Thakur’s 10 points enabled him keep his status as one of the stars of the event, winning will need more teammates to chip in. The latter has won once in seven ties.
Thalaivas, getting sharper with every outing since the first game rout at the hands of Telugu Titans in Hyderabad, appeared to be slipping into the groove. The defence got the job done, catching was of a high order as Pardeep Narwal found to his dismay and the former led 6-3 at one stage.
Pirates asserted themselves slowly and surely, wiping out the deficit with points from raiders and catchers to lead 16-9 at the break. Four points each from captain Pardeep and defender Jaidip took the initiative away from the Thalaivas, for whom Darshan made his mark in catching.
Thalaivas needed to come out firing early on resumption to put the brakes on Pirates’ running away with the match, but the raiders fell into the trap on too many occasions.
A time-out taken at 16-23 was time for hurried planning but the three players remaining on court felt the heat and suffered an all-out.
The result:
Patna Pirates 35 (Pardeep Narwal 6, Monu Goyat 11, Jaidip 5) bt Tamil Thalaivas 24 (Ajay Thakur 10, J. Darshan 3, Vineet Kumar 3, Amit Hooda 3).