Pro Kabaddi League 2018 continued the weekend action from the UP leg as the home team UP Yoddha took to the mat against Bengal Warriors in search of their first home win after two losses in a row.
The first match of the day saw Gujarat Fortunegiants continue their winning run winning 45-38 over Dabang Delhi KC in a strong all-around performance powered by the raiding of Dong Geon Lee and Parvesh Bhainswal in defence with his 'High 5'.
UP Yoddha have had it tough on their home turf succumbing to two losses on the trot struggling to keep the momentum after having won two matches prior to their home leg. The captain Rishank Devadiga hoped to get the team back on track. The raiding unit saw just Prashant Kumar Rai in good touch with his partner on the other side Shrikant Jadhav struggling in the two home matches. The defence also hoped to get their act together with the likes of Jeeva Kumar, Narender and Nitesh Kumar in the backline. UP Yoddha hoped to get their first win and kick off a good run of form.
Bengal Warriors came into the match on the back of inconsistent form over the past two legs but there was a major boost with the return of their star raider Maninder Singh back in the starting seven. Surjeet Singh led the team in the defence with the support of newcomer Adarsh in the cover position. The corner positions were occupied by Shrikant Tewthia and Vijin Thangadurai as Ran Singh was not in the final squad tonight. Bengal Warriors hoped to get their season back on track with a confident showing tonight.
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An exciting thriller saw the two teams share the spoils at 30-30 as Rishank Devadiga and Maninder Singh grabbed Super 10s on their returns to the starting lineups of their sides.
UP Yoddha
Prashant Kumar Rai - (2/10)
The raider had an off-night after two good performances and did not manage a single raid point in the first half of the match. He was replaced by Azad Singh at the start of the second half.
Shrikant Jadhav - (5/10)
The raider scored four points tonight and will hope to get back to a consistent run of form as the home leg carries on. He looked in good touch but made a couple of mistakes during his raids as we
Rishank Devadiga - (8/10)
After starting from the bench last night, the UP Yoddha captain started tonight and did exceptionally well to get his first Super 10 of the season. He led the charge tonight and was the best player on the mat for UP Yoddha.
Jeeva Kumar - (3/10)
The veteran defender did well with his assists for the defensive lineup but managed just one tackle point tonight.
Nitesh Kumar - (7/10)
The right corner defender of the UP Yoddha side was in good touch tonight and got Maninder Singh and Mahesh Goud out in the first half with good double thigh holds. He finished just short of a High 5 grabbing four tackle points for the side.
Narender - (3/10)
The cover defender had a tough time tonight as he was targetted on multiple occasions by the Bengal Warriors' star man Maninder Singh. He managed just one tackle point in the match.
Sachin Kumar - (3/10)
The all-rounder played as the left corner tonight and had two points - one raid and one tackle point to his name, but gave away a lot of easy touch points to Maninder Singh with his feeble ankle holds.
Substitutes:
Azad Singh - (5/10)
The youngster came off the bench to replace Prashant Kumar Rai and did well to score four crucial raid points for the home side.
Bengal Warriors
Surjeet Singh - (3/10)
The Bengal Warriors captain was the one organizing the defence for the team and had one tackle point in the match. He almost won the match for the Warriors with the last raid but the point was overturned by the umpires after the review.
Maninder Singh - (9/10)
Maninder Singh returned to the side tonight and continued his form scoring most of the raid points for the Bengal Warriors tonight. He was rarely tackled by the UP Yoddha defence and managed to score 14 points including a crucial Super Raid.
Mahesh Goud - (4/10)
The supporting raider had a poor night tonight as he was ineffective in his raids with the majority being empty raids. He was careless in the defence with unnecessary tackles as well but did manage one tackle point.
Shrikant Tewthia - (6/10)
The right corner defender had a poor start to the first half of the match giving away a few points to the UP Yoddha raiders. However, he recovered well and picked up three tackle point in the second half.
Adarsh T - (2/10)
The debutante for the Bengal Warriors did not manage any tackle points tonight in the first half. He was in and out of the lineup but scored a crucial tackle point late in the match getting UP Yoddha skipper Rishank Devadiga out.
Jang Kun Lee - (4/10)
The Korean raider played a silent role in the Bengal Warriors' raiding unit and put in fewer raids than his usual self. He managed to score only 3 raid points tonight.
Vijin Thangadurai - (3/10)
The young corner defender had a poor night as he gave away a lot of points to the UP raiders and did not manage to score any tackle point.
Substitutes:
Ziaur Rehman - (3/10)
The cover defender from Bangladesh came on in the second half of the match and got one tackle point with a strong double thigh hold.
Rakesh Narwal - (3/10)
The substitute raider came on as the last man on the mat for Bengal Warriors and picked up crucial raid point to keep the team alive.
Baldev Singh - N/A
The defender was subbed on couple of times when Bengal Warriors were down in numbers but could not make any impact.