Bengaluru: UP Yoddha, the GMR Group owned PKL franchisee, bowed out of from their race to the Finals as they went down 27-38 to three-time Champions Patna Pirate in the first Semi-final of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season Eight today.
The Yoddha’s star raiders were not in their elements on the day as the Pirates displayed all-round efficiency to make it to their fourth PKL finals. For UP Yoddha, Shrikant Jadhav who came on as a substitute made the most impressive mark by scoring his Super 10 tonight.
The Yoddha’s coach Jasveer Singh yet again opted for a five defender two raiders combination to begin proceedings as in the play-offs against the Puneri Paltans. Yet again the first few points were scored by the Yoddha’s opponents but at 3-4 in the initial stages it looked set to be a thriller.
However a two-point raid by the Pirates raider Gumnam Singh, who had a fantastic game with eight points, changed the complexion of the half completely as the Pirates raced to an 8-4 lead.
The Yoddha’s could not stop the momentum and it did not help as star raiders Pardeep Narwal and Surender Gill found the going tough. With a little over 10 minutes to go in the half, the first All Out was inflicted on the Yoddha’s and the score stood at 4-11.
It began to go downhill after that, as a second All Out with two minutes of the half left, meant that the Pirates lead going into the break was 9-23.
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The Pirates did not let go even after the break and although Srikanth Jadhav, who had a Super 10 game, did make an effort as did the defence led by Ashu Singh who had five tackle points for the day for a total of three Super Tackles, but the gap was becoming too much to bridge.
UP Yoddhas superstar raider Pardeep Narwal after winning his first point after 18 minutes, did have a better second half as well and finished the game with five points.
With two and half minutes to go, he also helped inflict an All Out on the Pirates and the scores read 27-34 as a first strategic time out was called, giving the Yoddha’s a glimmer of hope.
The Pirates however closed out effectively to make it to the finals which will be played on February 25, 2022.
