<p>Patna Pirates pulled off a thrilling heist over Bengaluru Bulls in the Pro Kabaddi League here at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Monday, sealing a semifinal spot in the process. <br /><br />Trailing their hosts for 30 minutes, Patna’s skipper Rakesh Kumar took out three antis to give them a 27-26 lead with seven minutes remaining in the game, which then swung like the pendulum.<br />Bulls, who will have gone to third place with a win on the night, struggled to come to terms with the setback and eventually lost 33-31. </p>.<p><br />The hosts remain on fifth place, with 37 points from 12 games, while Patna, who moved up a spot to third, closed out their league obligations with 45 points. </p>.<p><br />But the Bulls do have fate in their own hands and will qualify for the semifinals if they win their remaining two games -- against Telugu Titans (fourth place, 41 points) on Tuesday and Jaipur Pink Panthers (first place, 53 points) on Wednesday.</p>.<p><br />The match against Patna went neck and neck for most of the first-half before the Bulls opened up an 18-13 advantage at the break. </p>.<p><br />Ajay Thakur was having one of their quieter days on court but Suresh Kumar kept them in the contest with some brilliant raids.</p>.<p><br />Patna’s Ram Kumar brought them back into the game with two outs to bring down the deficit 24-22 before they struck gold with a lona which swelled their lead to 30-27.</p>.<p><br />But the definitive moment of the game was Rakesh’s star act with seven minutes left on the clock that powered Patna to a fine victory.<br /><br />Delhi demolish Pune<br /><br />In the first match on Monday, Puneri Paltan showed why exactly they were stuck at the foot of the table in a lackadaisical display against Dabang Delhi.<br /><br />Delhi, playing their last match of the competition and with no hope of qualifying for the semifinals, were at their best as they beat Pune 45-22.</p>.<p><br />The quick-starting Delhi outfit, who finished their campaign on sixth place with 32 points, didn’t even lose a point till after their first lona of the encounter. <br /><br />Kashiling Adake, who became only the sixth raider to cross 100 raid points in the league, was again all over the Pune antis like a rash.<br /><br />While the bottom-placed team did offer some resistance at the end of the first-half, which finished 20-10, they looked like a team who knew their bacon was fried long before the match was over. <br />To rub salt into the Pune wounds, their captain Wazir Singh was yellow carded 10 minutes into the second-half which earned him two minutes in the sin bin.</p>.<p><br />Their last match is against U Mumba at the same venue on Wednesday.<br /></p>
<p>Patna Pirates pulled off a thrilling heist over Bengaluru Bulls in the Pro Kabaddi League here at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Monday, sealing a semifinal spot in the process. <br /><br />Trailing their hosts for 30 minutes, Patna’s skipper Rakesh Kumar took out three antis to give them a 27-26 lead with seven minutes remaining in the game, which then swung like the pendulum.<br />Bulls, who will have gone to third place with a win on the night, struggled to come to terms with the setback and eventually lost 33-31. </p>.<p><br />The hosts remain on fifth place, with 37 points from 12 games, while Patna, who moved up a spot to third, closed out their league obligations with 45 points. </p>.<p><br />But the Bulls do have fate in their own hands and will qualify for the semifinals if they win their remaining two games -- against Telugu Titans (fourth place, 41 points) on Tuesday and Jaipur Pink Panthers (first place, 53 points) on Wednesday.</p>.<p><br />The match against Patna went neck and neck for most of the first-half before the Bulls opened up an 18-13 advantage at the break. </p>.<p><br />Ajay Thakur was having one of their quieter days on court but Suresh Kumar kept them in the contest with some brilliant raids.</p>.<p><br />Patna’s Ram Kumar brought them back into the game with two outs to bring down the deficit 24-22 before they struck gold with a lona which swelled their lead to 30-27.</p>.<p><br />But the definitive moment of the game was Rakesh’s star act with seven minutes left on the clock that powered Patna to a fine victory.<br /><br />Delhi demolish Pune<br /><br />In the first match on Monday, Puneri Paltan showed why exactly they were stuck at the foot of the table in a lackadaisical display against Dabang Delhi.<br /><br />Delhi, playing their last match of the competition and with no hope of qualifying for the semifinals, were at their best as they beat Pune 45-22.</p>.<p><br />The quick-starting Delhi outfit, who finished their campaign on sixth place with 32 points, didn’t even lose a point till after their first lona of the encounter. <br /><br />Kashiling Adake, who became only the sixth raider to cross 100 raid points in the league, was again all over the Pune antis like a rash.<br /><br />While the bottom-placed team did offer some resistance at the end of the first-half, which finished 20-10, they looked like a team who knew their bacon was fried long before the match was over. <br />To rub salt into the Pune wounds, their captain Wazir Singh was yellow carded 10 minutes into the second-half which earned him two minutes in the sin bin.</p>.<p><br />Their last match is against U Mumba at the same venue on Wednesday.<br /></p>