Stunning two-time champions Patna Pirates, Bengal Warriors came back from the dead and scripted a thrilling 41-38 win to go top of Zone of B in a Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) tie at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium here on Friday.
Bengal were trailing by eight points with eight minutes remaining in the second half and the score reading 25-34. But they made a superb turnaround from there with Maninder Singh (13 points), Jan Kun Lee (6 points), Vinod Kumar (5 points), Ran Singh (4 points) and substitute Bhupender Singh (4 points) performing brilliantly to turn the tables on their rivals.
For the Pirates, Pardeep Narwal’s efforts (11 points) went up in smoke as the visitors who now sit third in the table with 28 points from eight games. Bengal have 32 points from nine matches.
The last time the two sides met, it ended in a 36-36 draw a week back. Both teams headed into the clash level on points.
The visitors started well taking to a 3-0 lead before Bengal made it 4-7 and were staring at an all out. But Bhupender Singh pulled off a super tackle on Monu Goyat with the help of teammate Shrikant Tewthia to save his side the blushes at make it 6-7.
Vinod Kumar then made it 7-7 and Vikas Jaglan then returned empty handed with an unsuccessful raid to help Bengal take the lead for the first time.
Maninder Singh then grabbed two points from his raid making it 10-8 and pushing the Pirates on the brink.
It was a see-saw battle as Pirates fought back again to take 11-15 advantage and near the halftime whistle effected an all out on Bengal to end the half at 14-18.
In the second half, there was no respite for the hosts as Pirates maintained their four-point lead for major parts and pulled away to eight with eight minutes to go. Bengal’s plight was capped off when they were all out the second time with the score reading 25-34.
From there, Bengal pulled off a tremendous rearguard action to pull things back at 38-38 with an all out on their rivals. The turnaround was complete with Bengal winning 41-38.
