Pawan Sehrawat produced yet another raiding masterclass as Bengaluru Bulls posted a resounding 47-26 victory over struggling Telugu Titans in the Pro Kabaddi clash at the Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna on Thursday.
Sehrawat, who scored a whopping 29 points in the last game against Bengal Warriors, continued the rich vein of form bagging 17 points to dismantle the Titans’ defence.
Captain Rohit Kumar, who has curbed his usual aggressive raiding instincts to stay longer on the court since last season, gave glimpses of his old self helping himself to 8 points on the night.
The game started well for Titans with star player Siddharth Desai beginning with three straight successful raids and putting them 5-3 in front under three minutes.
With Bengaluru Bulls in danger of an all-out, Sehrawat showcased his all-round skills, scoring a raid point before inflicting a super tackle on Desai to put Bulls in front.
The tackle spurred him on as Sehrawat scored four points in as many raids to have Bulls sniffing an all-out. Rohit completed the formalities in 13th minute to give the defending champions a 17-9 lead in the encounter.
Armaan laid foundations of a Titans’ comeback two minutes later with a super raid but Rohit made three straight successful raids to restore Bulls’ lead. He then tackled Armaan in the final raid of the half to put Bulls 21-14 in front.
In the second half, Sehrawat fractured any hopes of a Titans revival early, sending both their corner defenders - Abozar Mighani and Vishal Bhardwaj - back in the hut in successive raids. Then in the 25th minute, Desai perished in a do-or-die raid for Titans who suffered a second all-out in the match.
A minute later Sehrawat put the game beyond all doubt by scoring a super raid to put Bulls 31-17 ahead and took his overall PKL raid point tally past the 400 mark.
Desai found some form late in the game but lacked support from the other end as Titans missed the chance for an all-out. Defender Mahender Singh scored two super tackles, while Mohit Sehrawat, Vijay Kumar and Amit Sheoran all scored a super tackle each in the last ten minutes to prevent the Titans from enforcing an all-out.
Desai, who has endured a hard season this time around, scored a Super 10 but it wasn’t enough to prevent Titans from suffering a heavy loss. The defeat meant the Hyderabad side stayed rooted to the bottom of the table, being the only team without a win this season. The Bulls meanwhile rose to the third spot in the table only behind Jaipur Pink Panthers and Dabang Delhi.
On Friday, U Mumba face Bengal Warriors before Patna Pirates take on UP Yoddha as Patna leg concludes.
