Defending champions Bengal Warriors beat Tamil Thalaivas 37-28 in match No 51 of Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Captain Maninder Singh got a Super 10 (12 points) while defenders Amit Narwal and Ran Singh controlled the defence.
The victory helped Bengal halt their losing streak while ending Thalaivas’ unbeaten run. The Thalaivas attack seemed blunt with Manjeet not his usual self and Ajinkya Pawar used sparingly.
Bengal and coach BC Ramesh would be happy they clinched a win despite a lukewarm performance from their Irani duo of Mohammad Nabibakhsh and Abozar Mighani.
In the second match on Thursday, Puneri Paltan completely outclassed U Mumba 42-23 in match No 52 of Pro Kabaddi League Season 8.
The season’s first Maharashtra Derby belonged to the team from Pune who brought out an all-round performance against a Mumbai side desperately lacking ideas.
Left-cover Vishal Bhardwaj and all-rounder Nitin Tomar picked up High 5s for the Pune team who jumped to 10th on the points table.
Mumbai will be left to wonder what they need to do to plug the gap left by injured raider Ajith Kumar. Abhishek Singh has struggled to lead the team in his absence with no other raider stepping up.
Updated points table
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Lost | Tie | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patna Pirates | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 34 |
| 2 | Bengaluru Bulls | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 33 |
| 3 | Dabang Delhi K.C. | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 32 |
| 4 | Tamil Thalaivas | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 27 |
| 5 | U Mumba | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 25 |
| 6 | UP Yoddha | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 23 |
| 7 | Jaipur Pink Panthers | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 23 |
| 8 | Haryana Steelers | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 23 |
| 9 | Bengal Warriors | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 22 |
| 10 | Puneri Paltan | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 21 |
| 11 | Gujarat Giants | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 20 |
| 12 | Telugu Titans | 8 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 10 |