Patna Pirates earned another massive win on Friday as it beat Gujarat Giants 43-23 in their Pro Kabaddi League (PKL 8) clash.

Patna Pirates’ young raider Guman Singh, who replaced Monu Goyat in the starting seven, delivered he goods with a Super 10 but the standout performer was the Iranian left corner Mohammadreza Chiyaneh Shadloui, picked up a staggering eight tackle points.

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Gujarat Giants took an early five-point lead by inflicting an All Out, but withered away thereon. The Pirates mad a strong comeback while the Gujarat Giants’ famed defence crumbled. The likes of Sunil Kumar and Parvesh Bhainswal had little to no impact on the game, while the raiders also failed to get going.

The Pirates had a two-point lead at the interval but then sped away to a nine-point lead at 25-16 immediately after the restart. Shadloui had come to his own and Guman wreaked havoc at the other end as he ran past three defenders to inflict a second All Out on Gujarat Giants. The lead then swelled to 15 points as Sachin Tanwar bagged four touch points in a single raid to add to the Giants’ misery. The win sees Patna Pirates take the second spot, while Gujarat Giants remains 11th.

– Dabang Delhi holds Bengaluru Bulls in dramatic 36-36 tie –

In the second match of the evening, Bengaluru Bulls and Dabang Delhi played out a highly-entertaining 36-36 tie. Pawan Sehrawat’s Super 10 had catapulted the Bulls to a 10-point lead but Dabang Delhi made a stunning comeback. Naveen Kumar scored a Super 10 (13 points) while defenders Sandeep Narwal and Joginder Narwal scored four points each.

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The match got off to a frantic start with Bulls’ Pawan Sehrawat and Delhi’s Naveen Kumar dominating the raids. Dababg Delhi benched its error-prone right cover defender Jeeva Kumar being and all-rounder Sandeep Narwal took his spot. He was instrumental in keeping Pawan away from the mat as Delhi clinched its first All Out in the 13th minute. The first half ended 18-14 in favour of Delhi.

However, Bengaluru clinched an All Out in the second minute after the restart as Pawan and a resolute defence helped the Bulls take the lead. Bharat and G.B. More contributed in both, defence, and attack as they slowly started getting the better of Dabang Delhi. Naveen had little impact in the early minutes of the second half as the Bulls inflicted another All Out in the 29th minute to open an eight-point lead.

Pawan got to yet another Super 10 as the Bulls seemed well-positioned to clinch the win. But Dabang Delhi staged a late comeback as Naveen clinched his Super 10 and the side secured an All Out in the dying minutes to make it a one-point game. Pawan thought his two-point raid in the final minute would have sealed the game in his team’s favour, but Naveen immediately scored a point for Delhi. With 30 seconds remaining, Bengaluru had a one-point lead, but Manjeet Chhillar produced a stunning ankle hold to pin Pawan and earn Delhi a well-fought tie.

– Vikash powers Haryana Steelers past Bengal Warriors –

In the first match of the evening, captain Vikash Kandola helped Haryana Steelers beat defending champion Bengal Warriors 46-29. Vikash Kandola scored a Super 10 (10 points) and was supported well in the attack by Vinay (eight points).

It was another disappointing match for Bengal Warriors despite captain Maninder Singh scoring a Super 10 (13 points). He once again lacked the support to convert the performances into wins for the Warriors.

The teams traded blows in a high-scoring and fiercely competitive first half. Bengal coach B.C. Ramesh chose raider Anand in place Sukesh Hedge in the starting seven while Haryana’s coach Rakesh Kumar benched Surender Nada for Akshay.

Bengal Warriors captain Maninder Singh attempts a raid during the Pro Kabaddi League 8 match against Haryana Steelers on Friday.   –  PKL

The first big move of the game came in the 16th minute when Vikash orchestrated a four-point Super Raid. That helped the Steelers get the momentum and clinch an All Out with three minutes remaining to open a three-point lead. But the Warriors came back right away with substitute Sukesh picking up valuable raid points. His 19th-minute raid took out Haryana’s cover defenders Mohit and Jaideep. The first half ended with the scores level at 19-19.

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Both teams kept matching each other in the early minutes of the second half. Vinay added more sharpness to the Haryana raiding unit while Surender was brought in to stabilise the left corner. Bengal’s Maninder kept chipping away at the Steelers defence and raced to a Super 10. But Haryana captain Vikash clinched a two-point raid (+2 for All Out) to pile the pressure on the opposition with eight minutes remaining. That extended the Steelers’ lead to 10 points, but Bengal immediately reduced the margin with a three-point Super Raid from Maninder.

Vishal Mane was a weakling in the Bengal Warriors defence and the Steelers kept picking easy points off him. Vikash picked his Super 10 as Haryana defenders helped the team clinch another All Out with two minutes remaining, which ensured a comfortable win.