Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Shyam Vasudevan and I will be taking you through today's PKL 8 match between Puneri Paltan and Bengaluru Bulls.
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Alright then, that brings us to the end of our Pro Kabaddi League coverage for the day. We will be back tomorrow. See you then!
Meanwhile, you can also check out our Kings of Kabaddi series from PKL 7 - a happier time pre-COVID when we got to physically sit down with some of the biggest names in the league and hear their stories. You can check out all episodes here:
It looked like Puneri Paltan lost steam in the second half as Bengaluru Bulls erased a seven-point deficit to make a strong comeback and seal its fourth win of PKL 8. Pawan Sehrawat was instrumental in his side's win as he found a purple patch in the second half and raced to a Super 10 in quick time and was well supported by Chandran Ranjit and Bharat. The defensive duo of Aman and Saurabh also bagged four points each. Puneri Paltan looked the better side for most parts of the game but a lack of experienced players cost the side dear as it fizzled away at the death. The win takes Bengaluru Bulls to the top of the standings, while Puneri Paltan remains at the bottom.
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40-29 Bengaluru Bulls extends is unbeaten run to five games as it beats Puneri Paltan 40-29.
39-28 Pawan tries to do what he did against Rohit Kumar yesterday , but cannot repeat his success against Mohit today.
39-27 Shubham nearly sneaks away with two points and it takes the collective strength of all six Bengaluru Bulls players to yank him away from the mid-line.
38-26 Pawan Sehrawat alleges he had his jersey pulled before being tackled by Abhinesh and reviews it, but the replays show that the jersey-pull did not impede his movement.
38-25 Saurabh joins the party as he gets eliminates Pawan Kadian.
36-25 Aman lays a neat ankle hold on Mohit and that will revive Pawan Sehrawat!
35-23 Pawan gets Pawan! Puneri Paltan's Pawan Kadiyan gets a backward kick on Pawan Sehrawat.
Did you know that Pawan Sehrawat had once considered quitting the sport before he was picked up by the Bengaluru Bulls? Learn more about his inspiring journey here -
35-22 ALL OUT FOR BENGALURU BULLS! Pawan brings up his Super 10 and he's swiftly swung this game in his side's favour.
31-22 Pawan has come alive in the second half as he weaves his way past Aslam and Baldev! Puneri Paltan staring at an All Out now.
29-22 Aslam does what his coach wanted from him, he gets rid of the left corner.
29-21 Great stuff from Pawan as he got past one defender and then looked for another point but has to rush back as he was nearly out of time.
"It's only a seven-point lead. Aslam, target their corners. We have close to 10 minutes, stay calm," says Puneri Paltan coach Anup Kumar.
27-21 Pawan gets the better of Vishal once again and the Bulls have seized control of this game.
26-21 Pawan snatches two points as he bags a bonus and a touch on Abhinesh.
24-21 ALL OUT FOR BENGALURU BULLS! Shubham is tackled to the mat and the Bulls are surging ahead.
21-20 Pawan gets rid of Karamvir and Puneri Paltan is down to one man.
20-19 Pawan strikes! Vishal makes a rare mistake as he tackles Pawan from behind and the Bengaluru Bulls skipper somersaults his way to safety.
19-19 Bharat outwits Abhinesh and the scores are level!
18-19 Shubham Shelke comes off the bench for the do-or-die raid but he has to return to the bench right away. That brings Pawan Sehrawat back on the mat!
16-19 SUPER TACKLE! This is a very intriguing piece of play. Aslam raids and Mohit steps off the mat and then lands a tackle on Aslam along with Aman to inflict the Super Tackle.
14-19 Puneri Paltan's left cover Vshal goes for the ankle hold and it's a perfect one! Off goes Abolfazel to the bench.
13-18 HALF-TIME! Puneri Paltan, placed at the bottom of the table, has a five-point lead over Bengaluru Bulls at the interval.
Pawan Sehrawat has managed only one bonus point in seven raids so far.
12-18 Pawan's slow start continues as he's trapped in a stupendous ankle hold.
12-16 Bharat was doing really well for the Bulls but he's flattened this time by the mighty Baldev.
12-15 A couple of tackle points sees Bengaluru Bulls claw its way back into the game.
Vishal has been given a green card for coaching during the raid. Two green cards lead to a two-minute supension.
9-15ALL OUT FOR PUNERI PALTAN! Chandran is the last man left and he goes in for a raid, but finds no way out of Vishal's tackle.
7-11 Aslam Inamdar, that kick belongs on a football pitch! He strikes Aman square in the jaw and bags his fifth point of the game.
7-10 WOW, that is raw muscle from Sanket. He runs into Pawan like a truck and has him flying off the mat.
7-9 Superb work from Mohit! He jumps over Saurabh and gives his side a two-point lead.
7-8 Aslam Inamdar is out of bounds. Ohh.
6-8 Why Baldev?
He gently goes towards Chandran Ranjit and gifts him a point. Seriously?
Mayur is subbed off. Only three active for Bengaluru. Super tackle opportunity is on.
5-8
Aslam Inamdar is brilliant today. He dives a the left corner and gets his hand touch. Another point to Puneri Paltan.
5-7
Bharat is sent off the mat. He is close to the midline and Pune huddles up on him, the dangling hand is a risk but Pune neutralises the risk.
5-6
Saurabh Nandal gets Mohit Goyat's legs and sends him to rest on the bench
4-6
Pawan is far too slow here and he is ushered off the mat on the left
4-5
Aslam Inamdar believes he's taken out Aman and he has. Nice lovely stretched hand and he gets his man.
4-4
Bengaluru levels out yet again. Quiet night for Pawan so far.
3-4
Aslam Inamdar takes out Mayur. Point to Puneri Paltan
3-3
Pawan Kadian gets a toe touch and levels points
3-2 BIG RAID for Chandran Ranjit.
Not smart here from Pune. Chandran Ranjit was too close to the midline why was that advanced tackle necessary at all? He takes off both the covers - Vishal and Baldev and one more. Silly from Puneri Paltan.
0-2
Mohit Goyat picks up Mayur to give Pune another point.
0-1
Pawan Kadian comes in and walks back with an empty raid. Cameras pan to Rahul Chaudhari. This must have been a hard decision for all involved.
0-1
Pawan is tackled right at the start. Good start here for Pune
Bulls will raid first
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LINEUP:
Bulls: Pawan Sehrwat, Mayur Kadam, Mohit Sehrawat, Bharat, Chandran Ranjit, Saurabh Nandal, Aman
Paltan: Aslam Inamdar, Abinesh Nadarajan, Sanket Sawant, Pawan Kadian, Mohit Goyat, Baldev Singh, Vishal Bharadwaj
8.30pm: Can you believe it? After trailing by 14 points at one point, Gujarat Giants made a spirited comeback to take the lead against Haryana Steelers with about two minutes left. However, final moment jitters hit the Giants once more and Haryana stayed calm to claim a thrilling win. What a game! That second half comeback (not the result) should give Pune some confidence to be able to put up a strong fight against the Bulls. Will they? We'll know. Lineups coming up.
8.20pm: Ten minutes to go for the big Pune vs Bengaluru game. Bengaluru Bulls has three wins, a loss and a point from its five games, while Pune is at the bottom of the table with one win and three losses in the four games it has played so far. Desperately needing to get its season going, Pune - without Nitin Tomar (injury) and an off-colour Rahul Chaudhari - have to find a way to stay strong against an often cocky (perhaps rightly so) Bengaluru Bulls outfit
8.10pm: Meanwhile, Rakesh Narwal has been scripting a pretty special comeback for the Gujarat Giants in the first match of the night. The Giants were trailing by a good 10 points at half time and I don't know what Manpreet Singh told them at half time but whatever it is, it's working. That lead is now down to 3 points with about eight minutes left in the match.
Follow along LIVE:
8pm: Puneri Paltan has had an underwhelming (putting it mildly) season so far and going up against a high-on-confidence Bengaluru Bulls outfit will be anything but a cakewalk for Rahul Chaudhari, Vishal Bharadwaj and Co.
Before we introduce you to the fixtures of the day, here's a look at the results from the last three days -
January 1:
December 31:
December 30:
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