Despite great efforts from Pradeep Narwal, Patna Pirates faced their second consecutive defeat of the season against Jaipur Pink Panthers after winning 5 games in a row at Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna in Match 28 of fourth season on Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League on Sunday. Patna Pirates are still remain at the top of the table with scoring 26 points from 5 wins in seven games while Jaipur Pink Panthers have reached the second spot after the win with scoring 25 points and winning 4 games among the total seven.

Exceptional performance by Tushar Patil helped Panthers to secure two raid points and to take the lead 7-5. Shabeer Bapu as well as Parvesh’s super tackle faded Narwal’s efforts to keep his team in the competition after level the score at 8-8. Kuldeep scored another raid just before the lunch break to gain 12-8 lead as both the team went for break. Pirates, as usual, stared cautiously, under Pradeep Narwal’s leadership but some poor quality of Pirates’ defense gave Jaipur 3-point lead. Pradeep Narwal countered immediately and hunted down the two Jaipur players with his signature cartwheel move.

In the second half Pradeep Narwal was trying hard to take the lead. However his efforts went in vain as Panthers leading under Shabeer Bapu played extremely well and everyone performed hard. Rajesh Mondal was sent to the raid from Pirates when they were remaining with only three players and Panthers were leading at 16-11. Another player Jasvir played exceptionally well. Pradeep Narwal managed to level the score at 17-17 but Shabeer’s boys again played well and Atrachali played well as Panthers were now leading 23-19 with just three minuted remaining to end the game. The final tally stopped at 26-21 in favor of Panthers.

By Prajakt K.