Yoddhas, Pirates play to a draw in PKL contest

UP Yoddhas held defending champions Patna Pirates to a 27-27 draw in a closely fought Zone B Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) contest at the Transstadia Arena here on Sunday.

Both teams got three points each from this draw. The Patna outfit are at the second spot with a total of 18 points from four matches.

The Lucknow team also have 18 points but are at the third spot since they have played one match more than Patna.

Patna Pirates captain Pardeep Narwal (9 points) led his side from the front while defender Vishal Mane (3 points) pulled off vital defence points though his successful tackles.

Narwal also became the fastest 50 points scorer in the ongoing PKL season.

For UP Yoddhas, Nitin Tomar (7 points) and Pankaj (3 points) combined well through their successful raids and tackles to help their team give a tough fight to the Pirates.

Tomar bagged the first point of the game through a successful raid. Later, raider Mahesh Goud combined well with Pankaj to pull off vital raid points to give their side an early 5-3 lead.

The Lucknow outfit had a 13-10 lead going into half-time with help of some fine tackles. Their star raider Rishank Devadiga failed to score with his early raids but soon regained momentum to boost his team's tally.

On the other hand, Pardeep Narwal opened the account for Patna Pirates with his successful raid. Raider Monu Goyat earned most of the points for the defending champions in the initial half to keep his team within touching distance of the opposition.

Goyat continued his fine form in the second half completing a super 5 through his successful raid but failed to give his side the required lead.

Narwal took the charge for his side from the front in the dying moments of the match helping his team reduce the deficit to 23-26.

For UP raiders, Tomar, Devadiga, Goud and Pankaj showed some fine movement in the opposition mat to clinch vital points through their successful raids and bonus points helping the team maintain the narrow advantage.

However, UP gradually changed gears and pulled off consecutive successful tackles to take a 24-17 lead with less than six minutes remaining.

--IANS

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