Puneri Paltan defeated the defending champions Bengal Warriors 39-27 in the 43rd match of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 at the Sheraton Grand Convention Centre in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Puneri Paltan opened the scoring with a successful tackle on Mohammad Nabibaksh. The Paltan gained a 2-1 lead before Maninder Singh’s super raid pulled the Bengal Warriors back into the contest.
The Puneri Paltan scored 7 straight points to get a lead of 9-5. Nitin Tomar and Aslam Inamdar were the top raiders. The Pune-based franchise inflicted the first all-out on the Bengal Warriors in the 15th minute of the match. They stretched the lead to 12-5.
Mohammad Nabibaksh just scored 2 touchpoints in this match
Even after the all-out, Puneri Paltan build on the momentum they gained after the all-out and reduced the Bengal Warriors to 3 men on the mat. The first half ended with a 9-point lead of 20-11 for the orange outfit. Abhineesh Natarajan was the star defender with 3 tackle points.
In the second minute in the second half of the encounter, Puneri Paltan held the lead at 25-13 as the Maninder Singh-led side could hope only for a miracle. Although the skipper Maninder had scored a ‘Super 10’, he certainly lacked support from his teammates.
The Warriors couldn’t pull off a comeback as Puneri Paltan continued their dominance and was defeated by 39-27. The lone bright spot for the Bengal Warriors was Akash Pikalmunde who scored 8 raid points in the second half. He was substituted on the mat in the 23rd minute.
Bengal Warriors slipped to the 8th spot while Puneri Paltan moved just a position behind them in the standings. Both the two teams have 3 wins and 5 defeats in the tournament so far.
U Mumba will lock horns with the Puneri Paltan in their next match on Thursday while the Bengal Warriors will clash with the Tamil Thalaivas on the same day.