The battle between Pro Kabaddi League’s top two teams was decided in the final raid of the match as Puneri Paltan came up with a 35-33 win over second-placed Bengaluru Bulls on Sunday night at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad. In the earlier match, defending champions Dabang Delhi beat Haryana Steelers 42-30.
A late fightback by the Bulls saw the team overcome a 10-point half-time deficit to level the match at 33-33 when it came time for the last raid of the match. Aslam Inamdar was sent in by the Puneri Paltan in a do-or-die raid, and the youngster managed to return to his half with a crucial bonus and touch point to seal the gripping match for the Pune team.
It was another all-round effort from the young Paltan team as Inamdar scored six, Akash Shinde scored seven and Mohit Goyat scored nine in attack.
In the first match of the night, Naveen Kumar was back among the points as the Dabang Delhi skipper helped his side come up with a comfortable win over the Steelers. Naveen scored 15 points while Ashu Malik chipped in with 10.
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | SD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Puneri Paltan | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 45 | 59 |
| 2 | Bengaluru Bulls | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 49 | 57 |
| 3 | Jaipur Pink Panthers | 15 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 86 | 53 |
| 4 | UP Yoddha | 15 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 39 | 45 |
| 5 | Dabang Delhi | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 45 |
| 6 | U Mumba | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 44 |
| 7 | Bengal Warriors | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 42 | 42 |
| 8 | Patna Pirates | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | -25 | 42 |
| 9 | Tamil Thalaivas | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | -22 | 38 |
| 10 | Haryana Steelers | 16 | 5 | 9 | 2 | -28 | 36 |
| 11 | Gujarat Giants | 14 | 5 | 8 | 1 | -40 | 33 |
| 12 | Telugu Titans | 16 | 2 | 14 | 0 | -152 | 14 |