Bengaluru, (Samajweekly) Raider Pawan Sehrawat was once again the star as Bengaluru Bulls decimated Puneri Paltan 40-29 in Match 29 of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 at The Sheraton Grand Whitefield here on Sunday. The star raider scored 11 points, 10 of which came in the second half, which helped the Bulls overcome a 6-point lead Pune had at the break.
With this win, Bengaluru Bulls overtook Dabang Delhi K.C. as league leaders with 23 points from six games. Delhi have 21 points from five matches. Puneri Paltan continued to languish at the bottom of the 12-team league with five points from five matches.
On Sunday, Paltan had a great start to the match but lost their composure against an experienced Bulls attack.
Pune went into the match as underdogs, especially with Rahul Chaudhari missing from the squad, but it was their raiders who started brightly. The young raiding duo of Mohit Goyat and Aslam Inamdar regularly scored points in the first half of the match. At the other end, Bengaluru struggled for points with both their top raiders Pawan Sehrawat, and Chandran Ranjit looking tired.
The Pune defense, marshalled well by the experienced corners Baldev and Vishal Bharadwaj, ensured the Bulls got no easy points. Pune clinched their first all-out in the 15th minute to open a five-point lead.
The Bulls tried to fight back with their young raider Bharat but the half ended 18-13 in favour of Pune.
Bengaluru Bulls, however, could not be denied and they launched a superb fightback after the break. Sehrawat led the Bulls’ charge with multiple raid points that eventually gave them an all-out in the 9th minute of the second session. There was a definite shift in momentum as Pune’s next-generation stars looked leaderless on the mat.
The Bulls clinched another all-out with six minutes remaining and opened a 12-point lead. Sehrawat raced to yet another Super 10 as coach Anup Kumar’s Pune team struggled to cope with the intensity. The experienced heads of Bulls ensured there were no slip-ups in the final minutes to ensure they get all five points. Pune could only muster 11 points in the second half which will have coach Anup Kumar worried.
