Puneri Paltan got off the mark with their first win of the Pro Kabaddi League season, after beating U Mumba 30-28 in a gripping encounter at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Later, Pardeep Narwal and Surinder Gill came up with impressive performances to help the UP Yoddha come up with a 44-37 win against the Bengaluru Bulls.
Aslam Inamdar top scored for the Paltan with nine points, and was supported by his raiding partner Mohit Goyat (five points). Captain Fazel Atrachali and his Iranian compatriot Mohammad Nabibakhsh chipped in with four tackle points each against a U Mumba outfit that struggled in defence.
So much so that their skipper Surender Singh did not register a single point on the night. Guman Singh was their highest scorer with seven raid points.
In the second match, Pardeep Narwal started to shake away the early-season rust to score 14 points for the Yoddhas in their win. Gill however, has been consistent for his team, coming up with another strong performance - also 14 raid points - to help his side put up a solid attacking performance.
There was some resistance from the Bulls through their star raider Vikash Kandola, who scored 12 points and Bharat who chipped in with nine.
The Yoddhas started off the match well, ending the first half with a 26-12 lead. The Bulls bounced back in the second half. The Yoddhas’ lead though was too much to cover up eventually, as the Bulls lost their second match in a row.