An astute effort by the defence and an efficient performance by the raiding unit propelled Haryana Steelers to a 35-26 win over home side Patna Pirates at the Patliputra Indoor Stadium on Wednesday. Vikash Kandola led the way for Haryana Steelers with a Super 10 while the Right Corner and Cover duo of Ravi Kumar and Sunil combined for eight tackle points.

Pardeep ‘Record-Breaker’ Narwal was off to a good start, scoring his first point of the night in his first raid. However, that would be his only point for a while as Haryana Steelers scored 10 of the next 11 points to take a 10-2 lead. The run started with Vikas Kale’s successful tackle on Mohammad Esmaeil Maghsoudlou and was followed by Kandola’s first raid point of the night. Skipper Dharmaraj Cheralathan scored the next two points for his side.

Cheralathan then added a third tackle point to his tally and reduced Patna Pirates down to just two men on the mat. Kandola managed to get rid of both men in the same raid soon after to inflict the game’s first All-Out and give his side a substantial lead midway through the first half. Pardeep’s second touch point of the night was followed by another run of four straight points for Haryana Steelers which left Patna Pirates with three men on the mat.

But Hadi Oshtorak continued his good work in Super Tackle situations and took down Kandola to earn his side two points. Raider Jang Kun Lee’s successful raid cut Haryana Steelers’ lead down to eight, but a Super Raid from Vinay put Haryana Steelers back in the driver’s seat. However, Pardeep quickly negated that raid with a Super Raid to keep his team in the hunt. Kandola added another couple of points to his tally with a two-point raid, while Pardeep scored his sixth raid point of night with the final raid of the half as the two teams headed into the half-time break with Haryana Steelers leading 17-9.

Monu’s brilliant tackle on Kandola followed by two successful raids by Pardeep helped Patna Pirates inflict an All-Out on Haryana Steelers and cut their deficit down to eight. Pardeep’s 14th raid point of the night got the home side within seven points of Haryana Steelers but Kandola’s 10th raid point of the night followed by an authoritative.