Welcome to Sportstar’s coverage of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Nigamanth and I will be taking you through today’s PKL 8 match between Haryana Steelers and U Mumba.

8-6 Vikash with a swift work, Mumba defense is caught napping as he gets a toe touch yet again

7-6  Ajith is the raider this time. what a jump that is. Gets a well deserved point. Error there from the defense

7-5 Vikash is back on the mat, thanks to the point and he has delivered. Escapes the hold of Harendraa

6-5 Abhishek comes in and he is pounced upon by the Steelers defense

5-5 Fazel is out yet again. The head injury he sustained a while back could be the issue

4-5 DO OR DIE! Abhishek with a multi point, buldozes through the defense and gets ttwo

4-3 Fazel is picked up by Ashish. Massive point and that was a great kick

3-3 Haryana gets a bonus and the scores are level yet again. This game is going to be as close as it can get

2-3 Fazel continues his form from yesterday. Audacious tackle to bring down the raider

2-2 The scores are level as Abhishek gets a touch point.

2-1 It’s Vikash again and he has got a point through toe touch. Looks like a plan well executed

1-1 Abhishek Singh is the raider here. Gets a bonus, safe play

1-0 Vikash Kandola to start off the proceedings, as usual. He gets a point straight away thanks to Rinku’s weak ankle hold

U Mumba wins the toss and Haryana Steelers will raid first.

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LINE UPS!

Haryana Steelers: Vikash Kandola, Ravi Kumar, Vinay, Jaideep Dahiya, Ashish Narwal, Mohit Nandal, Surender Nada

U Mumba: Abhishek Singh, Fazel Atrachali, Shivam, Harendra Kumar,Rahul Sethpal, Rinku, Ajith Kumar

7-20pm: Head-to-head stats

Played: 10

Haryana Steelers: 3

U Mumba: 6

Tie: 1

7-10pm: U Mumba had a spectacular day at the office yesterday, as it trounced the Bengal Warriors 37-27. Raiding duo V Ajith Kumar and Abhishek had solid outings and combined for 17 points, but it was the defence that really shone against the Warriors. Skipper Fazel Atrachali scored a season-high eight tackle points, while Right Corner Rinku also picked up a High 5. If U Mumba’s defence can emulate their display against the Warriors in all their remaining matches, they will likely secure a playoff berth with ease.

7-00pm: After three successive wins, the Haryana Steelers was handed a reality check in its last outing, as it succumbed to a 45-27 loss against the Puneri Paltan. Coach Rakesh Kumar will want his side to brush the result off as an anomaly and focus on their good run prior to that. The Steelers are currently third on the points table but are only six points clear of seventh-placed Puneri Paltan and have also played a game more. A defeat today could prove to be detrimental to their playoff aspirations.

6-50pm: The 2022 edition of the Sportstar Aces Awards is back and we are celebrating the marvellous year for Indian Sports that 2021 was. From Neeraj Chopra and the other Olympic and Paralympic medallists to the Indian cricket team, we have a bunch of nominees who need your vote to win! Support your team/athlete here!

6-40pm: In case if you’re new to this sport, here’s a simple explainer that covers all the rules of the game and the various terms such as ‘All Out’, ‘Do-or-die’ and ‘Super Tackle’-

6:30pm: Hello folks and welcome to our PKL coverage for the day! The first game of the evening will see third-placed Haryana Steelers take on sixth-placed U Mumba. Before we get to that, here’s a recap of what went down in the PKL over the last fortnight –