The Patna Pirates lost against U Mumba in what turned out to be one of the best matches we have seen this season. Pardeep Narwal tried his best to match U Mumba for Raid after Raid but he was unable to keep the Patna Pirates afloat alone.
With 74 points in 6 games, Pardeep Narwal has been in red-hot form. He will be hoping that some of his teammates are also able to come up with a better performance this time around. The Patna Pirates will also be banking on its defense to stop some of the impressive Raiders on the Haryana Steelers side.
Jaideep managed to register a High 5 in the last game against U Mumba and that would have raised his confidence tremendously.
The Haryana Steelers have struggled massively with their defense this season and that has perhaps been the reason why they have lost so many matches. They could only win two out of six games played at home and will be looking to spoil the Patna Pirates home leg as well.
The best chance of success the Haryana Steelers have is to attack mercilessly and hope its defense is able to pull together a somewhat decent performance. Leading the way for the Haryana Steelers will be Monu Goyat, a player who cut his teeth under the tutelage of Pardeep Narwal.
Monu Goyat started the season a bit slow but has now scored 33 raid points in his last three games. If he can continue to play in this form then he could lead the turnaround in the Haryana Steelers fortunes.
Vikash Khandola scored 14 raid points in the last match but still ended up on the losing side. It is not something that happens very often. Now, his side would want him to perform in the same manner and get the other cogs working efficiently as well.
The two sides have met twice in the past and the Haryana Steelers are yet to win a match. The Patna Pirates have won one match and tied the other. With a couple of draining performances in the last few days, it remains to be seen how much the Haryana Steelers have in the tank for this contest.
The defending champions are the better side in this contest. There is no doubt that. They also have home advantage and that could count for a lot. We think that the Haryana Steelers will pay for their poor defense once again in this match.
Back the Patna Pirates to win.