Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Nihit Sachdeva and I will be taking you through today's PKL 8 match between Bengaluru Bulls and Haryana Steelers.
We head into the day's third game as Dabang Delhi takes on three-time champion Patna Pirates! Join me on the blog here -
Summary: Pawan Sehrawat's stellar performance guided Bengaluru Bulls to a 46-24 victory against Haryana Steelers. The Bulls desperately needed a win to stay in contention for a playoff spot and their captain delivered on cue. The 'Hi-Flyer' scored 20 points (which included seven tackle points) with a dominant second-half performance that took the match completely away from the Steelers. Haryana missed out on an opportunity to secure a playoff berth with the loss and will now have to beat table-topper Patna Pirates in its final league match. Bengaluru completed all of its 22 games and now will wait for other results to learn its fate.
46-24: ALL OUT!!!!! Final raid of the match and the sole Haryana player on the mat simply surrenders in front of Pawan.
43-24: And now another tackle point for Pawan as he brings down Ashish.
42-24: Poetry in motion. Do-or-die raid for Pawan Sehrawat, he jumps, he cartwheels and returns with two touch points.
Coach Randhir Sehrawat tells his side, "Har point ki value hai (Every point is valuable)."
39-24: AND NOW A SUPER 10 AS WELL!!! Pawan Sehrawat gets a touch point off Ravi and makes his night even better.
38-24: HIGH FIVE FOR PAWAN SEHRAWAT with a brilliant SUPER TACKLE on Ashish.
Final strategic time out. Five minutes to go.
36-24: Do-or-die raid for Bulls, Ranjith goes in, takes the bonus but Jaideep comes in time with the block to stop him. The assist from the right corner does the rest.
35-23: SUPER TACKLE!!!! Pawan Sehrawat is always in action. Brutal ankle hold to bring down Vinay.
33-23: Brilliant presence of mind shown by Surender Nada as he followed Bharat with a quick pursuit and got the touch point.
33-22: Bharat picks up a bonus.
32-22: Running hand touch for Vinay on Bulls' right corner.
32-21: Rare failure from Aman going for the ankle hold on Ashish. Touch point given.
First strategic time out. Ten minutes to go and plenty to do for Haryana.
32-20: Do-or-die raid for Ranjith, no bonus on offer so he has to get a touch. Haryana almost does the work for him as Mohit was way too close to going out of bounds before avoiding it. Ranjith then goes a little deep on the left corner before eventually being taken down.
32-19: Massive block by Saurabh Nandal and Meetu is off.
31-19: Fourth tackle point of the night for Aman. He is just not putting an ankle hold wrong tonight. Brings down Vinay this time.
30-19: Quick raid from Vinay and he brings instant result as the error comes from Mahender in defence.
30-18: Pawan picks up a bonus.
29-18: ALL OUT!!! Vikash, once again the last man standing for Haryana, goes in and picks up a bonus but then is unable to go past Ranjith's block.
25-17: Do-or-die raid for Haryana and Vikash returns with a bonus.
25-16: Running hand touch by Pawan on Vijay Malik. Bulls are running away with the match.
24-16: Do-or-die raid for Bulls, Bharat goes in, Jaideep comes up with the dash from the left corner but it is not enough to push him off the mat.
23-16: Bulls are putting a defensive masterclass. Perfect ankle hold by Aman and Meetu had no chance of getting out of it.
22-16: Excellent toe touch by Meetu to send Pawan to the bench.
HALF-TIME: Bengaluru Bulls 20-14 Haryana Steelers
20-14: Final raid of the first half and the good work by the Bulls defence continues as they bring down Ashish this time.
19-14: ALL OUT!!!! Vikash goes in, picks the bonus but then out of nowhere, Pawan Sehrawat comes up with a superb ankle hold to bring him down.
16-13: Bharat reduces Haryana to one again with a touch point on Jaideep.
14-13: SUPER RAID!!!! What an unbelievable raid from Ashish!! He first picked up the bonus, pushed aside Mayur and then somehow slid his left hand across the mid-line despite Mahender's attempt to stop him.
14-10: SUPER TACKLE!!!! Pawan Sehrawat comes in for the raid with just two players for Haryana on the mat. Pawan goes for the touch on Mohit on the left corner, misses it but does enough to shake Mohit's balance for self-out. Pawan then runs back but Ravi Kumar pushes him off the mat. Since, Pawan had stepped into the lobbies without a touch, it will be a self-out for Ravi too but not an All Out.
12-8: Substitute raider Meetu earns Haryana's first raid point of the night in the form of a bonus.
11-7: Double ankle hold from Pawan Sehrawat to tackle Mahalli. What's going on? Bulls raiders are putting on a show in defence.
10-7: SUPER TACKLE!!! Surender Nada with the block, Vijay with the back hold and tall raider Bharat Naresh is off.
10-5: Do-or-die raid for Haryana and yet again, the charged up defence of the Bulls means no raid points. Vikash walks back after being brought down by Ranjith's ankle hold.
9-5: Successful raid for Bharat as Jaideep tries for an advanced tackle.
8-5: Ranjith goes in for the raid, tries for the touch on the right corner, the defender retreats and Ranjith loses his balance stepping into the lobbies for a self-out.
8-4: Do-or-die raid for Steelers, Ashish goes in and the double ankle hold by Bharat and Aman on the left brings him down. Still no raid point for Haryana.
7-4: Well, spoke too soon. Error from Surender looking for the thigh hold on Pawan yet again but this time Pawan escapes.
6-4: Surender Nada is in some form today. Three tackle points already as he brings down Ranjith with a thigh hold.
6-3: Excellent ankle hold by Bharat Naresh and the bad start continues for Vikash Kandola.
5-3: Solid back hold by Surender Nada and Pawan has been sent to the bench for the third time already.
4-2: Tight ankle hold by Surender Nada to bring down Hi-Flyer Pawan Sehrawat.
4-1: Another tackle point for Aman but this time he gets one of the best in the league, Vikash Kandola.
3-1: First point of the night for the Steelers courtesy of a big dash by Jaideep to push Pawan off the mat.
3-0: Do-or-die raid for the Steelers and Mohammad Mahalli has been taken down with a double ankle hold by Aman.
2-0: Round-house kick and Pawan hits Vijay in the face.
1-0: Pawan opens Bulls' account with a bonus.
0-0: Vikash Kandola comes in for the opening raid and comes back empty-handed.
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TOSS - Bengaluru Bulls wins the toss and selects right side of the court. Haryana Steelers to raid first.
LINE-UPS!!!
Bengaluru Bulls: Pawan Sehrawat (c), Mayur Kadam, Mahender Singh, Bharat Naresh, Chandran Ranjith, Saurabh Nandal, Aman
Subs: Mohit Sehrawat, Dong Geon Lee, Jaideep, Rohit Kumar, GB More
Haryana Steelers: Vikash Kandola (c), Mohammad Mahalli, Surender Nada, Ashish Narwal, Jaideep Dahiya, Mohit Nandal, Vijay Kumar
Subs: Meetu, Rajesh, Ravi, Rohit, Vinay
8:25pm: Bengaluru Bulls holds a 3-2 lead in its head-to-head series against the Haryana Steelers. The teams last met on New Year’s Eve, where Bengaluru won 42-28.
8:20pm: Four wins in its last five matches have seen Haryana Steelers climb to fourth on the points table. The Steelers have a great chance of finishing in the top two, provided they win their next two matches. Raider Ashish, who was drafted into the starting lineup late into the season, has been a revelation. The youngster has scored 48 points in the Steelers' last five matches, with 38 coming in the last three. In Vikash Kandola, Ashish, an excellent defence and a strong bench, the Steelers have it all to go all the way this season.
Bengaluru Bulls has spent the entire season in the top six but could lose its spot soon. Two wins in its last seven matches has given teams below it the chance to catch it on the points table. Bengaluru sits sixth, only a point clear of Gujarat Giants and four clear of Puneri Paltan. Both teams have a game in hand. The Bulls will play their last game of the league stage tonight. A defeat would all but end their campaign, making this a must-win game for the former champions.
8:15pm: In the first match of the evening, UP Yoddha leads U Mumba 26-25 with seven minutes left on the clock. U Mumba needs to win this match in order to keep its play-off hopes alive. Follow my colleague Shyam Vasudevan's coverage of this exciting match here:
8:10pm: “ Mereko dil me laga ki apun bhi kabhi yaha tak ja sakta hai (I felt deep down that there will come a day when I can also play in the League),” Aslam Inamdar recalls thinking when he first watched the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) in 2014. A lanky teenager who was nursing a fractured leg after playing in the sub-junior nationals, Aslam yearned to make a name for himself in the world of kabaddi. Read more about his journey here - Aslam Inamdar overcomes adversities to live his dreams through Pro Kabaddi
8:05pm: The 2022 edition of the Sportstar Aces Awards is back and we are celebrating the marvellous year for Indian Sports that 2021 was. From Neeraj Chopra and the other Olympic and Paralympic medallists to the Indian cricket team, we have a bunch of nominees who need your vote to win! Click here to VOTE!
8pm: Hello folks and welcome to our second game of the evening! We've got an interesting clash ahead of us as Bengaluru Bulls takes on Haryana Steelers! Before we get to that, here's a recap of what went down in the PKL over the last fortnight -
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