Pro Kabaddi League 2017: Patna Pirates hold UP Yoddha to a draw, Gujarat Fortunegiants extend winning run

Ahmedabad: UP Yoddha and Patna Pirates played out a thrilling 27-27 draw in the fifth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League on Sunday. Pardeep Narwal, who scored his 50th raid point of the fifth season, inspired Patna’s fight back in the last five minutes. He scored nine points, while Nitin Tomar scored seven points for UP Yoddha. Narwal got into the act quickly and opened Patna Pirates account in the first minute. Tomar responded with a raid of his own in the second minute to level the game at 1-1. Monu Goyat scored a raid point for Patna Pirates in the fourth minute to tie the game at 3-3. [caption id=“attachment_3928073” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Pardeep Narwal (L) and Nitin Tomar(R) during the toss. Image courtesy: Pro Kabaddi League website[/caption] UP Yoddha led 5-3 after seven minutes as they managed to keep Narwal quiet. The Pirates trailed 5-6 after 10 minutes, while UP Yoddha led 9-7 after 14 minutes as Tomar scored his third raid point. Narwal spent a lot of time on the bench but scored two raid points in a minute as Patna Pirates trailed 10-12 in the 18th minute. UP Yoddha ended the first half leading 13-10. Patna Pirates scored the first point of the second half to trail 11-13 in the 21st minute. Monu Goyat scored his fifth raid point as Patna trailed 12-15 in the 23rd minute. With Narwal on the bench, it was Goyat who carried Patna as they cut the lead to two points to trail 15-17 after 26 minutes. Rishank Devadiga scored for UP Yoddha in 27th minute as they led 18-15. UP Yoddha stretched their lead to five points as they led 22-17 in 31st minute. Patna Pirates’ defence let them down badly as they scored just four tackle points as they trailed 17-25 in the 34th minute. Narwal did try to inspire a comeback for Patna as he scored three points in one minute to trail 23-26. With less than two minutes to go, Pardeep scored another point - his 50th of season 5 of Pro Kabaddi League to cut the deficit to two points. Tomar scored a crucial bonus point in the last minute as UP Yodhha led 27-25. Narwal tied the game with a raid point and Patna were awarded a technical point with less than 10 seconds to go. The match ended in a 27-27 tie. In the second match of the day, home team Gujarat Fortunegiants took on the Jaipur Pink Panthers. The Fortunegiants recorded their third straight win beating the Pink Panthers 27-20 riding on a strong defensive performance and Sachin’s raiding prowess. Sachin scored seven raid points, while Fazel Atrachali scored four tackle points for Gujarat Fortunegiants. Gujarat remained top of the table in Zone A with 23 points from six games. Jaipur are bottom of the table in Zone A with six points after three games. Jaipur Pink Panthers led 2-1 in the fourth minute as Gujarat Fortunegiants had a couple of empty raids. It was a cagey start from both teams with Jaipur leading 4-3 after seven minutes. Gujarat Fortunegiants led by Fazel Atrachali kept Jaipur raiders quiet as they led 5-4 in the 10th minute. Jaipur leveled the game at 6-6 in the 11th minute. Sachin scored with a two-point raid in the 14th minute as Gujarat lead 9 -6. Nitin Rawal scored with a two-point raid as Jaipur tied the game at 9-9 after 18 minutes. It was 10-10 at the end of the first half of an evenly contested affair. Gujarat Fortunegiants scored the first point of the second half to lead 11-10 after 22 minutes. Sachin scored a raid point in the 25th minute to give Gujarat a 13-11 lead. Jaipur raiders struggled to get points against a tight Gujarat defence as they trailed 13-16 in the 30th minute. Gujarat Fortunegiants inflicted the first all out in 32nd minute to lead 21-14, which extended to 23-16 with their defence putting pressure on Jaipur raiders. Jasvir Singh had a disappointing game for Jaipur as he could score just one point in 35 minutes. Gujarat Fortunegiants cruised in the last five minutes as Jaipur tried to reduced the deficit to less than seven points. But Gujarat didn’t relent as their defenders made it extremely hard for Jaipur to get points. Gujarat scored 13 tackle points and recorded a comfortable 27-20 win.