UP Yoddha rode a solid all-round display to beat Telugu Titans 39-33 in their Pro Kabaddi Season 8 match in Bengaluru on Saturday. 

Star raider Pardeep Narwal was UP Yoddha’s standout performer on the night with a super 10 while captain Nitesh clinched a high 5 in their defence. 

It was a riveting first half, with the teams going toe-to-toe in the first seven minutes. However, with the score at five-all, Rajnish propelled the Titans to a 9-6 lead.  

UP Yoddha turned the tables almost immediately, racing to a 13-10 lead while inflicting an all-out on the Titans. Riding on Surender Gill’s five raid points and Sumit’s three, the team ended the first half with a 19-14 lead. 

In this half, Sumit also brought up the 100th tackle point of his Pro Kabaddi League career. He has played 32 games. 

The Titans began the second-half well, with Rajnish picking up a two-point raid and the team sending Pardeep Narwal back. The Titans closed the gap to 19-21. 

However, UP Yoddha built up a seven-point lead at 27-20, with Surender Gill picking up a couple of raid points and Nitesh Kumar earning his first high 5 of Pro Kabaddi Season 8. 

Down to two men, Telugu Titans super tackled Sureder Gill and cut down the deficit to 27-28, while reducing UP Yoddha to just Shrikant Jadhav.

The last man standing clinched two touch-points in his raid, giving UP Yoddha a three-point lead with less than five minutes on the clock. He then pulled off a super tackle, taking the lead to 32-27. 

However, a two-point raid from Adarsh brought UP Yoddha down to a solitary raider, Pardeep Narwal.

With UP Yoddha leading 34-30, Pardeep consistently took at least one point from every raid. Despite UP Yoddha losing their revived players every round owing to successful raids from the Titans, Pardeep kept scoring. 

Pardeep Narwal brought up his third super 10 of Pro Kabaddi Season 8 while helping UP Yoddha to their third win this season. 

With this victory, UP Yoddha now have 28 points from 10 matches and are fourth on the Pro Kabaddi Season 8 standings.

UP Yoddha will next face Puneri Paltan, the only team they haven't played yet in Pro Kabaddi Season 8, on Monday.