Pro Kabaddi: Bengaluru pips Mumba, Telugu thumps Jaipur on home turf

Bengaluru Bulls broke its winless streak and moved up to fourth spot with a 35-33 win against U Mumba, while Jaipur ended its home leg with a loss to Titans.

Bengaluru Bulls star raider Pawan Sehrawat (in red) raiding against U Mumba defence.

Bengaluru Bulls broke its winless streak and moved up to fourth spot with a 35-33 win against U Mumba on Friday but not before the latter took the fight to the defending Pro Kabaddi League champion.

From being 12 points down in the 29th minute and Bengaluru’s star raider Pawan Sehrawat picking up points at will, Mumba almost clawed back, thwarted only by the clock running down. Both teams though remain in the top-six and en route to the playoffs.

An 'all-out' with 16 seconds to go in the first half – Sehrawat claiming a three-pointer – cost Mumba dear and with the score being 11-17, the former winner was constantly playing chase thereafter. The six point margin remained constant before a two-pointer by Banty set the ball rolling for a second Mumba 'all-out' in the 26th minute and increasing the gap to 12 points.

From 19-31, however, Mumba began chipping away, one point at a time and cutting out the glory moves. Abhishek Singh was the star, coming away with a point in each of his four raids. Surinder Singh stepped up in the defence to keep Mumba in the hunt. Six minutes later, Bengaluru was 'all-out' and the lead down to four points at 28-32. It was further reduced to two points with two minute to go and remained there despite Mumba’s best attempts.

-Jaipur ends home leg with defeat-

The final match saw 11th-placed Telugu Titans, led by spirited Siddharth Desai, spoil home side Jaipur Pink Panthers’ party with a 51-31 win. The result did not make any difference to the Titans’ fortunes but ruined Jaipur’s chances of entering the top-five.

The first half belonged to Siddharth Desai, who scored 13 raid points to register the best start in the first half by any player this season. To add to Jaipur's woes, he won the mini-battle against league's best defender, Sandeep Dhull, six to nothing.

Titans returned to mat roaring at 17-15 and widened the gap by inflicting the first 'all-out'. Titans scored only one tackle point in the first twenty, but an improved defenced closed all doors for Panthers as the latter suffered a second 'all-out' in quick succession.

Siddharth, to no surprise, raced to a 'super-10' Rajnish joined the party mid-way during the second half and he brought up his 'super-10' soon after to help his team bundle out Jaipur for the third time. 

Panthers' skipper Deepak Hooda's 'super-10' proved to be insufficient as Jaipur went down without proving to be a threat to Abozar's men.