 "PKL 8: UP Yoddha beat Patna Pirates with the last raid of the match")
U.P. Yoddha beat Patna Pirates 36-35 in the final move of the match to clinch much-needed five points in the first match of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Christmas Day triple-header at The Sheraton Grand Whitefield here. Patna thought they had managed to claw their way back into a tie in the last move of the match when they tackled Surender Gill but the U.P. raider ensured he got a bonus point in the process to keep that one-point lead alive. Pardeep Narwal, former Patna raider, was the highest point scorer for U.P. Yoddha with 12 points.
As expected Narwal got off to a flier, picking up two bonus points in his first two raids and then following it up with a two-point raid. Patna struggled in the initial stages with their raiders Monu Goyat and Prashant Kumar Rai struggling.
A 3-point Super Raid in the 10th minute by UP Yoddha's Shrikant Jadhav had three-time champions Patna Pirates sweating with just two men on the mat. But their all-rounder Sachin clinched an important raid point and followed it up with a Super Tackle. Patna then made a remarkable comeback with four Super tackles with the likes of Mohammadreza Chianeh and Sajin impressing. The first half ended with Patna in the lead at 20-12 with both sides failing to inflict an all-out.
The second half saw both teams complete Super Tackles as the defenders took charge of the match. But a few mistakes from the men in green allowed UP to secure the game's first all-out in the 10th minute of the second half to open a narrow three-point lead. The team from U.P. maintained the lead till the last few minutes partly due to a few mistakes from the Patna defence.
The Pirates, however, made it a one-point game with U.P. having to go through a do-or-die raid in the last move of the match. But Surender Gill showed great presence of mind to pick up a bonus point and win the match for U.P. Yoddha.
--IANS
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