Puneri Paltan put one foot in the semifinals of the ProKabaddi League Season 4 with a 36-33 win over Bengaluru Bulls here on Wednesday.
Manjeet Chhillar inspired a stunning second-half comeback by Paltan. Paltan was trailing by as nine points, but came back strongly to notch a crucial win.
Manjeet scored 11 points, the most tackle points by a defender in the game. Deepak Hooda scored first point for Paltan in the second minute. Rohit Kumar replied with a raid of his own to level the scores.
Paltan led 5-1 after five minutes as its raiders scored points at will. Rohit Kumar was sent off the court in the seventh minute as Paltan led 6-1.
Bulls inflicted a super tackle in the ninth minute as they trailed 3-6. It was 9-5 in Paltan’s favour after 10 minutes. However, Bulls came back strongly and cut the lead to just one point for 9-10 after 12 minutes.
Bulls led for the first time in the match with a tackle point and doubled the advantage when Rohit Kumar scored to give his team a 12-10 lead.
Paltan crumbled under the pressure and suffered an all out in the 16th minute.
Bulls turned the game on its head to lead 19-12 after 18 minutes and Paltan’s hopes of qualifying for the semifinals were disappearing with each passing minute.
It was a stunning turnaround in the first 10 minutes of the second half as Paltan scored 12 points and Bulls just three. With eight minutes left, Hooda scored with a two-point raid to gain a 28-24 advantage.
With less than two minutes to go, Manjeet scored with a crucial tackle point to give Paltan the decisive lead.
U Mumba trumped Dabang Delhi 38-34 in the second tie of the day. > MATCH CENTRE
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