On a day of close encounters in the Pro Kabaddi League, the Bengaluru Bulls managed to pip Dabang Delhi 34-33, while the Bengal Warriorz held defending champions Puneri Paltan to a 32-32 draw on Tuesday at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad.
The Bulls made a strong second-half comeback to pick up their first win of the season.
Dabang Delhi had the better start of the two sides and had quickly moved into the lead within the first few minutes. The Bulls were finding it hard to break through their opponents, and Delhi continued to build on.
As the first half progressed, Ashu Malik was pulling all the strings for the Dabang Delhi side, and they moved into a three-point lead around the midway stage of the first half.
With 8 minutes to go in the half, Brijendra Chaudhary inflicted an all out on the Bengaluru Bulls which further extended the Dabang Delhi advantage.
At the half time break, the Dabang Delhi led 22-14.
After the break, the Bengaluru Bulls came out of the blocks stronger, and were beginning to mount a fightback. In the initial minutes of the second half, the momentum was with the Bengaluru Bulls, but soon enough the Dabang Delhi side got their act going as Sandeep and Vinay started picking up crucial points. At the half-hour mark in the game, the Dabang Delhi led by 27-22.
From then on in, the Bengaluru Bulls, with Jai Bhagwan scoring a Super 10, started to push the opponents and the contest got close as the deficit between the two sides reduced to two points.
With two minutes left, Pardeep Narwal stepped up and inflicted a crucial all out on Dabang Delhi which gave the Bulls a slender one-point lead.
The Bengaluru Bulls did not disappoint, as they held on for the win.
Warriorz hold Paltan
The Bengal Warriorz and the Puneri Paltan played out an exciting draw, as the two teams ended the game locked on 32-32.
For the Bengal Warriorz, who registered their second consecutive tie, it was Sushil Kambrekar who top scored with 10 points. That apart, all eyes were on the veteran defender Fazel Atrachali, who rewrote the history books when he registered his 500th tackle point in PKL, and became the first player to do so in the history of the tournament.
It was a cautious start from both the Bengal Warriorz and the Puneri Paltan in the initial minutes, which meant points were hard to come by. However, after the early exchanges, it was the Puneri Paltan who pulled away with a three-point lead, with Mohit Goyat leading the charge.
After that though the Bengal Warriorz fought back and stormed into the lead with Praveen Thakur and captain Atrachali leading the way. Midway through the first half though the Bengal Warriorz had picked up a one-point lead in what was turning out to be a tight game. But in the final minutes of the half, Akash Shinde and Abinesh Nadarajan turned on the heat and the Puneri Paltan stormed into a five-point lead.
With two minutes left in the first half, Atrachali tackled Goyat to pick up his 500th tackle point. The teams entered the half-time break with the Paltan leading 15-12.
After the break, the Puneri Paltan further extended their lead with Gaurav Khatri landing an all out on Nitin Dhankhar.
In response, Kambrekar inflicted an all out on the Puneri Paltan which brought the Bengal Warriorz right back into the contest. At the midway stage in the second half, the Bengal Warriorz trailed by four points. With five minutes to go, Kambrekar completed his Super 10, and the Bengal Warriorz continued to fight on.
The fightback continued for the Bengal Warriorz, and with a couple of minutes to go they took a slender one-point lead. However, in the final minute, the Puneri Paltan levelled things up at 32-32 and that’s how the contest ended.