Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: The five best matches from the Hyderabad leg

#1 Telugu Titans vs Patna Pirates, Match 4 - Pirates won 35-29

This contest was the first of the blockbuster matches of this fifth season of Pro Kabaddi with two of its biggest stars in Rahul Chaudhari and Pardeep Narwal facing off.

There existed a tantalizing backdrop for this contest in that the Pirates are the two-time defending champions and that Pardeep had always scored heavily against the Titans in past seasons. But how would he do this time with a new-looking team?

For the Titans, they had started their campaign with a win on Day One, but could they back it up with another strong showing against the champions? Also, there was the prospect of Rahul racking up his 500th point of Pro Kabaddi, a mammoth milestone.

The contest delivered on its promise for much of its length. For about 70% of the match, the Pirates and Titans traded blows with neither team able to eke out a sizable advantage. Neither team led by more than four points at any stage. That was until Pardeep produced a moment of magic with five minutes left that turned a one-point Pirates lead into a five point one and swinging the contest Patna's way.

Pardeep finished with 15 raid points on the night, far outshining Rahul who faded after a bright start, finishing with seven raid points in comparison and stuck on 499. In his quest for that personal milestone, Rahul ended up making some costly errors that derailed his team in the end.