The Bengal Warriors fought off the Bengaluru Bulls in the final minutes of their Pro Kabaddi League clash to secure a close 32-30 at the EKA Arena by TransStadia on Sunday. In the other game of the night, defending champions Jaipur Pink Panthers were pegged back by the Puneri Paltans courtesy of new skipper Aslam Inamdar, despite the heroics of Arjun Deshwal.
The Warriors dominated most of the game despite the Bulls' best efforts as they made it a close contest. Skipper Maninder Singh’s 11 points in his first start for the season was enough to see the Warriors through the game.
Maninder started with the first raid of the evening, yielding a bonus point as well as a touch point to put his team ahead. At the other end, Bharat was tackled on his very first raid, eventually taking the Bengaluru Bulls over four minutes, and multiple raids, before they got on the board via a DO OR DIE raid from Aditya Shinde.
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One Super Raid from Neeraj Narwal turned the tide in the Bengaluru-based team's favour, although the Warriors were leading 14-11 at half-time. At the second half start, the Warriors extended their lead after Maninder Singh effected an ALL OUT to put them 8 points clear at 23-15.
This did not deter Bengaluru, who inched their way back into the contest. With six minutes to go, they got an ALL OUT of their own, bringing the margin down to two. With three minutes left to play, the teams were locked at 28 each.
But things went in the Warriors' favour, with Vishwas' raid and Darpan's tackle ensuring they edged to a victory in the last minute of the game.
Paltans silence the Panthers
In the second game of the game, Arjun Deshwal (17 points) and Aslam Inamdar (10 points) were the key performers of the day.
The Paltans raced to a 6-3 lead when Iranian all-rounder Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh trapped Ajith Kumar in the sixth minute. However, the Panthers clawed their way back into the game through their raiders. Arjun was a constant threat to the Puneri defence, but it was Ajith Kumar who made the difference as he got the better of Abinesh Nadarajan and Mohit Goyat in a superb raid to inflict the ALL OUT in the 14th minute.
The Panthers had a comfortable 14-10 lead and it was the first time they had taken the lead in the game. Arjun went on to grab points in each of his next three raids to ensure the Panthers held on to their four-point lead at the half-time interval.
Arjun resumed where he left off as he picked up two points in the very first raid of the second half to bring up his PKL career’s 36th Super 10. Just when it appeared that the Panthers were in the ascendancy, Puneri Paltan mounted a solid fightback. Aslam starred with a two-point raid to reduce the opposition to two men and Shadloui followed it up with an iron-clad double thigh hold on Arjun to get the ALL OUT.
With 25 minutes played, Puneri Paltan had reduced the deficit to two points at 21-23. A couple of successful raids from Aslam and a huge tackle from Sanket Sawant on Ajith saw them draw level at 25-25 in the 30th minute.
The men in orange dictated terms thereon as frequent points from Shadloui, one from a tackle and one off a smart pursuit raid, saw Puneri Paltan bag yet another ALL OUT. Puneri Paltan enjoyed a healthy six-point lead with five minutes left on the clock.
Arjun put up a valiant effort to bring his side back into the game, but there was little he could do as Aslam brought up his Super 10 and led Puneri Paltan to victory on his captaincy debut.
(With references from the official press release)
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