Skipper Maninder Singh's 11 points, ably supported by protege Nitin Kumar's 13 points, took the Bengal Warriors to an impreesive 45-38 win over Dabang Delhi KC on Friday.
A strong start for the Dabang Delhi saw them take the lead in the first half, but they were pegged back by an all-round Bengal Warriors performance despite captain Ashu Malik's super ten.
Maninder, the Bengal Warriors' star raider, gave his team the ideal start. The defence of the Warriors built on this start but skipper Malik stole crucial points for the Dabang Delhi with consecutive raid points. They built on this early momentum to wipe out the Bengal Warriors just eight minutes into the match.
With a tight two-point deficit, the Bengal Warriors restarted in style as their talisman Maninder and Vishwas S kept up with the in-form Dabang Delhi.
However, Malik did not let the score settle, constantly pushing their opponents onto the backfoot. He continued his scintillating form, helping his team to wipe out the opponents for the second time in the first half.
The second all out meant that the Bengal Warriors trailed by six points at the start of the second half.
The Warriors, however, got off to a brilliant start in the second half. They inflicted the first all out on Dabang Delhi just over three minutes into the half. Moments later, Akshay Kumar tackled Malik to put the Warriors ahead.
Maninder continued to lead from the front and his resilience bore fruit with another ALL OUT giving his team a cushion to lean on. He was ably supported by the young Kumar, who reached his super ten before his captain.
Two more all out followed for the Dabang Delhi K.C., as the Bengal Warriors raced to a come-from-behind victory.
Haryana Steelers beat Gujarat Giants
Later in the day, a second half comeback inspired by a brilliant defensive show saw the Haryana Steelers edge out the Gujarat Giants 34-30.
The defensive duo of two Mohit and Mohit Nandal pocketed four apoints apeice as the Steelers rose to fourth position on the table.
Keeping with current form, the Steelers started off quicker off the blocks, and soon had the Gujarat Giants thin on numbers on the mat.
It was apt then that for two teams defined by stout defences, it would be a super tackle that would start the highlights package of the evening.
For the Giants, it was doubly welcome coming as it did from Fazel Atrachali, a superstar who has looked devoid of his shine over the past week. It proved to spark the fire in an old hand, who went on to star for his team on the night.
The tackle sparked a resurgence among the Giants and they soon inflicted the first all out of the game, with eight minutes of the half left to take a 15-7 lead.
They would go into the break leading by a massive 11 points, their defence logging twice as many as the raiders, and looked comfortable to break their indifferent form.
The Steelers replied brilliantly in the second period though to spark an unlikely comeback for the ages.
Having reduced the Giants' numbers yet again, did not repeat the mistakes of the first half. Despite suffering a super tackle at the hands of Vinay that ignited a brief Giants resurgence, the Steelers registered an all out to reduce the gap to 19-24 and set up an electric final quarter of the game.
An inspired Haryana Steelers defence riding high on confidence took the Giants into deep waters very quickly in the final quarter of the game and got a second all out with two minutes to play to take the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the game. They never let go of it this time and walked away with a win.
