Patna Pirates romped to their third straight triumph in the Pro Kabbadi League, outclassing debutants Gujarat FortuneGiants 55-38 in the final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Saturday. After a close first half, Pardeep Narwal and Pirates stepped up the pace to register a commanding victory.
Narwal was once again in top form. He amassed 19 raid points and capped a memorable season by guiding his team to a hat-trick of titles. The Pirates, who have recorded phenomenal numbers with their raids, constantly put pressure on the FortuneGiants. Here, they won 32 raid points.
Monu Goyat began the night with a stellar raid to pick up the first points for Patna. FortuneGiants bounced back almost immediately and kept pace with the Pirates and trailed 18-21 at the end of the first half. The second half was in contrast to the first as the formidable Pirates, riding on Narwal’s brilliance, broke down the resolute Fortunegiants’ defence and pulled away, inflicting an all-out in the 23rd minute to open a six-point lead at 27-21.
Yet again, there was an immediate response from Fortunegiants as they scored three successive points in the next three minutes to trail 25-29. Vijay scored off a crucial do-or-die raid in the 30th minute as the Pirates led 30-26 and got Narwal back on the mat. Narwal then came up with a super raid as Pirates inflicted another all-out in the 32nd minute to open up a sizeable lead at 38-26. The Patna-based side were in cruise control from there and didn’t allow their opponents a sniff.
Sachin was the top scorer for the Gujarat team with 11 points but his efforts were overshadowed by Narwal’s brilliance. Monu Goyat scored nine points whereas Jaideep chipped in with five tackle points. It was a disappointing night for Fortunegiants as their famed defence failed miserably on a night when it mattered the most. They managed to pick up just five tackle points and failed to contain Narwal and Goyat. Narwal ended the season as highest raid point scorer with 369 and also took the Most Valuable Player award.
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