Bengaluru: Patna Pirates aided by a superlative display from new recruit, raider Rohit Kumar scored an impressive 33-24 win over hosts Bengaluru Bulls in the opening tie of the Bengaluru leg of Season 3 Star Sports Pro Kabaddi here. This was the second straight win for the Patna Pirates and the first loss for Bengaluru Bulls. The winners took a firm grip at half-time with the score reading 20-10 with the sole all-out of the match coming in the 18th minute of play.

Besides Rohit who contributed 8 points in a dozen raids, the others who contributed substantially to the winners’ tally were defenders Sandeep Narwal (4), D Suresh Kumar (3). So good was the stranglehold that the winners gained due to Rohit that they never needed the services ofall-rounder Sandeep Narwal in attack.

For Bengaluru Bulls the inability of their captain Surjeet Narwal to score no more than a solitary point was the main reason for a weak performance. Had he fired then Bengaluru Bulls would have definitely made a match of it as their other prime raider Amit Rathi was in fine form. In fact he was the top scorer with a tally of 10 including 3 bonus points and a solitary tackle point.

Youngster Pawan Kumar, brought in as a substitute by the Bengaluru Bulls impressed with a couple of points in his very first raid for the losers. In hindsight the substitution came too late in the day.

Patna Pirates with two back to back wins have sent positive signals to their supporters back home. Their skipper Manpreet Singh, the tall former Asian Games
gold medallist made his presence felt and so did the left corner defender Suresh.

Pradeep Narwal who was later substituted by the winners hasn’t exactly impressed. But veteran Rajesh Mondal who has shifted allegiance from Bengaluru to Patna was quite handy in his familiar role of a do-or -die specialist, coming in for Pradeep. He scored four with a couple in his first raid to keep the score ticking and out of the reach of their rivals.