New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) Patna Pirates clinched a thrilling tiebreaker (6-4) against Bengaluru Bulls after the two teams were in a 38-38 deadlock at the end of regulation time at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday.

Ayan Lohchab led the way with a super 10, while Navdeep also contributed with four tackles. The key contribution in the tiebreaker came from Mandeep Kumar’s two-point raid. For the Bulls, Alireza’s ninth Super 10 went in vain despite them completing an eleven-point comeback in regulation time.

The two raiders – Ayan and Alireza – opened the scoring for their respective sides. Sanjay registered the first tackle of the night, and Ashish Birwal responded for the Pirates with both teams not giving away an inch. Sudhakar M and Akash Shinde also made their mark for their respective sides in what was an engaging start, which saw Bengaluru Bulls hold on to a 8-7 lead after the opening ten minutes.

The defenders soon started taking over in the second quarter of the game. Deepak Sankar made his presence felt on the defensive end, while Navdeep’s Super Tackle did the same for his side. Ankit Rana got into the act as well as the Pirates opened up a four-point lead courtesy of a tackle from Ankit Jaglan.

In a cagey encounter, Ayan and Alireza exchanged blows with both raiders scoring seven points in the first half. The former ensured that his team held a three-point lead at half time, with the score at 16-13.

Patna Pirates started the second half in an aggressive manner, taking the onus to put the pressure on their opponents. Navdeep delivered a crucial tackle on a do-or-die raid, while Ayan carried on doing what he does best to help his side inflict the first all out of the game and putting his side in the driver’s seat.

Ankit Rana then executed a two-point raid, extending their lead to eleven points. 27-16. Ayan completed his super 10, as did Alireza Mirzaian, as the latter kept Bengaluru Bulls in the hunt despite the score at 28-18 with under ten minutes to go.

In a span of six minutes, the Bulls raged back courtesy raids from Alireza, Aashish Malik and Ganesha Hanamantagol. The Bulls defence then reduced the gap to five points, before Alireza executed an all out to bring his side right back into the contest with the score at 30-28 with under three minutes to play.

Alireza then levelled the score for the Bulls, taking this game down to the wire. Heading into his penultimate raid of the game, Ayan executed a successful do-or-die raid to open up a two-point gap. Alireza then struck back with a lightning quick raid, pushing Patna Pirates for one final raid.

With the win in his sights, Ayan couldn’t quite close the game in regulation time. He was brought down by Manish on the final raid, forcing a tiebreaker after the two teams were tied at 38-38.

In a nervy tiebreaker, Sudhakar and Aashish Malik opened the scoring for their respective sides. Mandeep Kumar’s two-point raid gave the Patna Pirates a significant advantage, and they didn’t look back from that point. Despite surrendering an eleven-point comeback in regulation time, Ayan and Deepak Singh put the finishing touches in the decider to ensure Patna Pirates prevail 6-4.

–IANS

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