Patna Pirates began their home leg in style as they beat Bengaluru Bulls 31-25 in the fourth season of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League here today.
Pardeep Narwal scored eight raid points while Kuldeep Singh was a rock at the back for Patna Pirates as they remained unbeaten in the fourth season.
Their fourth straight win lifted them to third place just behind Jaipur Pink Panthers and Puneri Paltan on score difference. However, they still have played two games less than the two teams ahead of them.
Bengaluru Bulls' second defeat pushed them down to fourth place with 19 points from six games.
There were as many as six empty raids in the first minutes and both teams' defence made errors to gift points.
After six minutes, the Patna Pirates star raider Pardeep Narwal opened his account in the seventh minute as Patna Pirates led 5-3.
Reduced to two men the Bengaluru Bulls were staring at their first all out but Pawan Kumar scored two points to revive Rohit Kumar in the ninth minute. Rohit Kumar forced a super tackle with an excellent dash on Pardeep Narwal as Bulls led 8-7 after 10 minutes.
In the 13th minute, Patna Pirates inflicted the first all out as they led 12-9. Rohit Kumar scored three raid points for Bengaluru Bulls in the first half and Pawan Kumar scored five raid points.
For Patna Pirates, Rajesh Mondal and Pardeep Narwal scored five and four raid points respectively in the first half. In the last minute of the first half, Bengaluru Bulls made two more empty raids as they trailed 12-15 going into the break.
Rohit Kumar scored two raid points in the 23rd minute as Bengaluru Bulls trailed 14-16. Pardeep Narwal took his personal tally to seven points as he scored two in the 25th minute to give Patna Pirates a 19-14 lead.
Pawan Kumar scored with a do-or-die raid in 29th minute as Patna Pirates trailed 17-19. Bengaluru Bulls continued on the comeback trail as they cut the lead to a single point in the 32nd minute and Patna Pirates were staring at an all-out.
But Abolfazel scored with a super raid and got three points as Patna Pirates led 24-20. Patna Pirates made a super tackle in the 35th minute as they opened a six-point gap to lead 26-20.
A third super tackle in the 39th minute gave Patna Pirates an unassailable eight-point lead. Bengaluru Bulls managed to reduce the victory margin to less than seven as they lost 25-31.
