Bengaluru Bulls produced a sensational comeback in the last moments of the match to secure a 28-28 tie with Jaipur Pink Panthers in the Pro Kabaddi League in Patna on Sunday. This was the eighth tie of the season.
Bengaluru’s Ran Singh and Monu were the star players of the game with 5 tackle points each. Though Jaipur did not seal the win, they created history as they extended their unbeaten run to a record 12 games.
In the second match of the day, Tamil Thalaivas took a massive 50-34 victory over U Mumba. Narender (13 points) and Ajinkya Pawar (10 points) put a beleaguered U Mumba defence to the sword in a dominant performance.
Jaipur made a brisk start and had their opponents in a precarious position with just 3 men on the mat. Bengaluru pulled off a defensive masterclass to stay alive. They produced 4 super tackles – 2 each from Ran Singh and Monu - to not only fight off the all-out, but also take a healthy lead at 15-10 in the 18th minute.
The defending champions faltered in their raiding and Arjun Deshwal had just 1 raid point to his name in the first 20 minutes. However, he made amends early into the second half with a multi-point raid that paved the way for the first all-out of the match in the 23rd minute. Jaipur levelled the scores at 18-18 and the see-saw battle for the lead continued.
Monu and Ran Singh brought up High 5s midway through the second period and Bengaluru opened up a slender lead at 22-18. However, Jaipur increased their intensity of play and their defence shored up as they did what their opponents did in the first half – execute a couple of much-needed super tackles – to catch up to Bengaluru at 23-23 with a little over 7 minutes left.
Jaipur sneaked away to a 2-point lead and had a comfortable advantage when Bhavani Rajput’s brilliant multi-point raid put them ahead at 28-26. The game was poised in their favour as there was just 1 minute left on the clock and Bengaluru only had 3 players on the mat. However, Bharat, who had come off the bench, grabbed a touch point and then executed a fine ankle hold on Deshwal to win his side two invaluable points and ensure they split the points with the reigning champions.
Tamil Thalaivas beat U Mumba
Himanshu’s super raid to take out Bittu, Surinder Singh and Mukilan Shanmugam put the Thalaivas well in front early in the game as U Mumba’s defensive struggles rolled over to another week.
The Thalaivas inflicted the first all-out of the game in the 8th minute and took full control of the game at 13-7. They never really dropped that lead through the first half.
However, U Mumba fought back via Bittu’s super tackle and then a super raid by Amirmohammad Zafardanesh, but the Thalaivas held a decent lead at 27-17 at the end of the first half.
The team from Tamil Nadu rode on the momentum and inflicted a second all-out within the first minute of the second half to further extend their lead. Guman Singh picked up a few raid points, but the Thalaivas kept forging forward through Narender and Ajinkya Pawar's magnificent raiding.
The Thalaivas earned their third all-out in the 38th minute as they closed out a massive victory in the end.