PKL 8: Patna Pirates thrash U Mumba, climb to top of points table

Bengaluru, Jan 11 (IANS) Patna Pirates thrashed U Mumbai 43-23 in the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 at The Sheraton Grand, Whitefield, here on Tuesday.

A well-balanced Pirates dominated from the first minute with their defenders Neeraj Kumar and Mohammadreza Shadloui picking High 5s. All their players contributed to a win that helped the Pirates move to the top of the points table ahead of Dabang Delhi KC

U Mumba went into the match without the services of the star raider Ajith Kumar. The lack of confidence in the raiding department affected the balance of the whole team. Abhishek Singh struggled to compensate with the points as Patna Pirates tackled aggressively.

At the other end, Mumbai's corner defenders Fazel Atrachali and Rinku made uncanny errors. Patna inflicted their first all-out in the 6th minute of the match as Monu Goyat and Sachin found mistakes in the Mumbai defence. The Pirates opened a seven-point lead but continued putting pressure on Mumbai.

Ashish Sangwan produced a Super Tackle for Mumbai to give a glimmer of hope, but the lack of raiding options kept affecting the Season 2 champions. Sachin thought he got the Pirates their second all-out in the last raid of the half, but Rinku dished out a stunning one-man Super Tackle to delay it. The first half ended 19-9 with the Pirates in the lead.

Pirates got their second all-out in the first minute after the restart with Neeraj Kumar securing a High 5. The three-time champions were clearly in no mood to slip up and continued to dominate in all departments. The Pirates started killing the time with slow raids while Iranian Mohammadreza Shadloui ensured their left corner remained safe.

U Mumba dominated the five minutes after the first Time Out to come close to an all-out but Mohammadreza Shadloui produced a Super Tackle to stop them.

Pirates captain Prashanth Kumar Rai then got a 2-point raid to bring more Pirates onto the mat. They had a 15-point lead heading into the last five minutes and the Pirates pulled out two stunning Super Tackles to put salt on Mumba's wounds. The win helped the Pirates move to the top of the points table.