Bengaluru Bulls made a strong claim for a semifinal spot, completing a convincing 37-24 victory against Bengal Warriors in the ProKabaddi league here on Sunday.
With the group stage now in the final leg, the fifth-placed Bulls took to its first home match with gusto. They jumped to a 3-0 lead just minutes into the match, and with Ajay Thakur (six points) and Manjit Chillar (four points) in prime form, was soon ahead 7-3. The Warriors did manage to pull things back, but their comeback hopes did not last for long.
The Bulls’ Rajesh Mondal provided a spark on the attack at a crucial juncture, taking two anti-raiders out, to put his team ahead 10-9. The Bulls’ defence stayed tight and a 14-12 advantage at the end of the first-half was cheered by a boisterous home crowd.
The match took a decisive turn in the second-half when a successful raid from Ajay Thakur took out three rival players. When the Warriors slumped to a 15-22 deficit, the writing was on the wall.
Only three players remained, and the Bulls picked them out one by one. Two unsuccessful raids and one Chillar-inspired touch relegated the Warriors to a lona , and the match was well and truly over.
Before this fixture, the Bengal side had lost eight out of its 13 matches and there was no respite here either.
The result: Bengaluru Bulls 37 (Ajay Thakur 6, Manjit Chillar 4) bt Bengal Warriors 24 (Mahesh Goud 4, Mahendra Ganesh 4). Best raider: Ajay Thakur (Bulls). Best defender: Manjit Chillar (Bulls).
Saturday’s results (at Jaipur): Telugu Titans 32 (Sukesh Hegde 9, Rahul Chaudhari 8) bt Patna Pirates 29 (Sandeep Narwal 8, Ravi Dalal 6).
Jaipur Pink Panthers 33 (Jasvir Singh 7, Manvinder Singh 7, Rajesh Narwal 7) bt Puneri Paltan 27 (Wazir Singh 7, Jitesh Joshi 5).
