Patna produce another tie in Pro Kabaddi League

 

Patna, August 9, 2014:  The third night in Patna saw no decrease in enthusiasm. A fully packed crowd, armed with green flags, eye-patches, and indefatigable vocal chords welcomed the Patna Pirates and Dabang Delhi teams with a roaring standing ovation. With a clear tilt towards their hometown Pirates, their support for both teams showed that not only was they die-hard Patna fans, but they were die hard Kabaddi fans. In the last standoff between Delhi and Patna, the Pirates stepped away victorious, and on their home court they once again aimed to destroy.

But it would be Delhi who scored first. If greatness is defined by an unbroken series of successful gestures, Surjeet Nawal was truly great this game, accounting for a huge amount of his teams huge early lead. It was thanks to him that Delhi was able to bring the Pirates down to 2 players in just 7 minutes, shortly followed by an all out as Kashiling Adanke teamed up with Surjeet to pick off the remaining players, and set the score at Patna 5, Delhi 14.

For the rest of the first half, the two teams traded raids and tackles, but Delhi maintained their superiority and slowly but surely grew the lead. Even with unrelenting power of Patna’s Ravi Dalal, who among consistent 1 point raids was able to score a 3 touch raid that cut the Delhi defense in half, the Delhi team was able to end the first half with a 10 point lead and 21 points.

  

After tying with current Pro Kabaddi League Leader UMumba, and the unbelievable comeback from the Jaipur Pink Panthers in the night’s first match, the Patna fans were filled with hope. Anything could happen tonight. Patna Captain Rakesh Kumar answered their call. Scoring 5 consecutive raids for his team and adroitly dodging targeted attempts by Kashiling, Rakesh was essential for the Patna comeback, bringing back in his entire team, who together were able to crush every raider Dabang Delhi sent at them.

  

Ravi Dalal went out, and accepted d15’s surrender, scoring Patna an all out and bringing them within one point of Delhi with a score of 24 -25, and 10 minutes remaining. The crowd was on its feet as the two teams battled with vicious strength, with Delhi barely holding on to their lead.  Both Patna and Delhi exhibited amazing plays, from backwards rolls to perfectly coordinated tackles, showing that the two teams were perfectly aware that every point could be the point that won the game.  

A mistake from the Patna defense gave the edge to Delhi, leaving Patna with only 4 players to Delhi’s 7, and giving Delhi a 3 point lead. After a number of incredibly tense empty raids, Patna was able to get the edge back, taking Surjeet out and bringing the score to 29 -30. The next raid started at 39 minutes and 26 seconds, and was properly undertaken by Rakesh Kumar.

The crowd knew, the Dabang defense knew, and Rakesh knew that this would be the raid that determined the game, and a well placed kick from the Patna Captain earned him the one point he needed to tie the game at 30 – 30.

The crowd erupted into cheers as the end of game whistle symbolized Patna’s second tie in a row, but through the jubilation one could see Rakesh with his hands on his head, knowing that only one more point would have given his team the win. 

A Press release

Photos: Aftab Alam Siddiqui