PKL 6: Pardeep guides Patna to 38-35 win over Delhi

Skipper Pardeep Narwal's stunning performance helped defending champions Patna Pirates pip Dabang Delhi 38-35 in an inter-zonal clash of the sixth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) here on Thursday.

Pardeep collected a total of 16 raid points while teammate Manjeet picked eight points to help Patna register their sixth win of the season.

On the other hand, Naveen Kumar also had a great game as the raider bagged 15 points but it wasn't enough to stop Delhi from receiving their fifth loss this season.

The first four minutes saw successful raid and tackle attempts by both the sides with the score 3-3 before Naveen's one-point raid and Pardeep's attempt saw Delhi take a 5-3 lead.

Patna then saw some terrific effort from both their raiders and defenders as they not only cut the deficit but also took a 12-8 lead by the 11th minute.

Two minutes later, the defending champions inflicted an All Out to extend their lead to 16-10.

Delhi, however made a comeback in the final moments, collecting seven points in quick succession to make the issue 18-17 at half-time.

Delhi shifted gears in the second-half and took a 23-20 lead before Pardeep's super raid tied the issue at 23-23 by the 23rd minute.

Naveen and Ranjit's consecutive successful raids and some great tackling attempt helped Delhi again take a 26-23 lead. Naveen completed his super-10 to make the score 23-27.

Patna then collected two points in back to back attempts to move to 25 points and Manjeet's another successful raid cut the deficit to one point, making the issue interesting with the score 26-27 by the 30th minute.

Delhi then rode Naveen and Ranjit successful attempts to take a 30-26 lead but the game took a u-turn in the last 10 minutes as the former faltered on some occasions, while Pardeep made great raid attempts to once again hand Patna a 37-33 lead before finally clinching the contest 38-35.

--IANS

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