After defeating U Mumba 40-31 at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium in Delhi on Saturday in Play-in 2, the three-time PKL winners Patna Pirates made it six wins in six games. The Pirates advanced to the Eliminator 1, where they will face the Jaipur Pink Panthers, thanks to a defensive masterpiece that saw 16 points from Navdeep (7) and Ankit (4). Ayan scored 14 points.
Both teams began the game as they intended to, trading early points. In the first raid of the match, Amirmohammad Zafardanesh attacked the Pirates’ main raider Ayan Lohchab, but U Mumba retaliated right away after Sandeep touched Deepak.
The Pirates had an answer for each point that U Mumba scored. After Milan Dahiya’s two-point raid with touches on Parvesh Bhainswal and Vijay Kumar, Ajit Chouhan’s Super Raid, which got Ayan, Navdeep, and Balaji D, ensured that the match was tied and that U Mumba’s score was 10-9 after ten minutes.
Vijay Kumar tackled Ayan in the beginning of the second quarter, but Pirates captain Ankit received a Super Tackle after stopping Sandeep in his tracks. After Navdeep tackled Ajit Chouhan and subsequently Sandeep, the Pirates’ lead grew to two points. The Pirates took the lead after Sunil Kumar and Parvesh Bhainswal made an unintentional mistake that increased the score differential to four.
Soon after, Ayan tackled Zafardanesh, then touched Vijay Kumar before Deepak tackled Sachin Narwal, resulting in the ALL OUT for U Mumba. This increased the Pirates’ lead to seven points, but at the end of the first half, a few points from the season two PKL winners made it 20–15.
At the beginning of the second half, the Pirates’ push persisted, but it was too close to call. Ajit Chouhan of U Mumba received a bonus point, followed by Sandeep on Deepak, but Ayan received Parvesh shortly after. With the score at 27-21 at the end of the third quarter, the margin grew to six points following a two-point outburst from Ayan, setting up a crucial final ten minutes in the play-ins.
In a do-or-die raid, Navdeep tackled Sachin Narwal, leaving U Mumba with just two players on the mat. As the star raider finished his Super 10, Ayan got Lokesh Ghosliya in his own do-or-die raid. Navdeep then earned his High Five by tackling Satish Kannan and giving U Mumba a second ALL OUT.
As the lead grew to ten points, this seemed to be the last straw. Ajit Chouhan received an extra point when Rinku tackled Ayan with everything on the line for the season two winners. He reduced the gap to six points by trapping Navdeep and Balaji D with another two-point assault.
With a touch point off Parvesh, substitute Sudhakar M came up for the Pirates. However, in the very next raid, Ajit’s touch put the dangerous Ayan off the mat and elevated him to his Super 10. The Pirates were reduced to three players because to U Mumba’s skill. Milan Dahiya’s successful raid and Navdeep’s Super Tackle on Ajit Chouhan effectively terminated the match with one minute remaining. As the Pirates defeated U Mumba by nine points, Ayan concluded with a Super Raid.
