Gujarat Giants beat defending champions Bengal Warriors 34-25 in match 87 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 8. In the second match of the evening, Bengaluru Bulls defeated UP Yoddha 31-26 and reduced the deficit of points they need to dethrone Dabang Delhi from the top.
Giants took an early lead in the match but the lead kept changing hands in the first half. Giants got a three-point super raid by Pardeep Kumar in the ninth minute. Warriors immediately clawed their way back with a two-point raid by Maninder Singh. Both defenses opted for a high line which meant there were no bonus points on offer. Giants' Ajay Kumar also chipped in with crucial raid points in the low-scoring first half as it ended with scores 13-12 in his team's favour.
Giants substituted Rakesh Narwal for Rakesh S in the second half and the move proved to be a fruitful one. The young raider fetched a three-point super raid in the early minutes which gave the Giants enough momentum to secure an all out in the seventh minute after the restart. Gujarat had a nine-point lead going into final five minutes and they extended it with Pardeep Kumar's excellent raids. Giants put on a collective effort to ensure Bengal Warriors lost the game by a nine-point margin.
For Gujarat, Ajay Kumar picked nine points and was supported by Pardeep Kumar with seven points. Hodi Oshtorak and Rakesh Sungroya both chipped in four points each. For Bengal, captain Maninder Singh bagged nine points, Ran Singh picked six points and Ismaeil Nabibakhsh picked five points.
Bengaluru Bulls defeat UP Yoddha to retain second place
In the second match of the Bengaluru Bulls defeated UP Yoddha 31-26. This is UP Yoddha's third consecutive defeat as they sit sixth on the table with five wins from 15 games.
The first half was completely dominated by the defenders. For Bulls, Pawan Sehrawat and Bharat took charge of the team in raiding, while Aman took three points in defense and got good support from other defenders as well. For this reason, Bengaluru Bulls inflicted an all out on UP Yoddha in the 15th minute of the match. For UP Yoddha, captain Nitesh Kumar scored four points whereas Ashu Singh and Shrikant Jadhav scored three points each. However, Pardeep Narwal was a complete flop with only get two points to his name and getting out thrice. After the first half, Bulls took a 18-13 lead.
Jadhav got the UP Yoddha off to a good start in the second half as he got two touch points. Sehrawat also scored consecutive points in raiding. Supported by Nitesh Kumar's high 5, UP Yoddha came close to getting the Bulls all out. However, Aman made a super tackle and saved his side by contributing with a high five. The raiders of UP Yoddha were ineffective as they ended up losing the game by five points.
