Pro Kabaddi 2021 day 5: Super 10s for Pawan Sehrawat and Naveen Kumar; Bengaluru Bulls beat Bengal Warriors, Gujarat, Delhi settle for draw

Pro Kabaddi League 2021: Raiders made merry in both Boxing Day fixtures of the PKL as Bengaluru Bulls beat Bengal Warriors in a thriller while Dabang Delhi and Gujarat Giants settled for a draw.

Pawan Sehrawat (15 points) was not to be outshone. He put in a seven-point raid to clear out the entire Warriors lineup in the first half to help Bulls claw their way back in the game.

In a game filled with twists and turns, Bengaluru Bulls pipped Bengal Warriors by one solitary point to take a hotly contested game 36-35 in the Pro Kabaddi League's Boxing Day fixture on Sunday.

Warriors had an early hold on this game with captain Maninder Singh (17 points) leading from the front. This featured a mind-blowing six point raid from Mani whose dangling hand pipped a strong Bulls defensive move.

But Pawan Sehrawat (15 points) was not to be outshone. He put in a seven-point raid to clear out the entire Warriors lineup.

As it happened:

The momentum swung emphatically as the Bulls raced ahead for a while. Maninder and Mohammed Esmail Nabibakhsh then banded together to pull things back for the Warriors.

Randhir Singh, coach of the Bulls, then pulled off one of the most effective substitutions we've seen in the league so far by bringing in Dong Geon Lee and targeting Bengal's weak cover defenders.

With a slender two-point lead secured, all Mahender Singh had to do when Nabibakhsh came in for the last raid of the night was to ensure he didn't walk away with anything more than a point.

This is the Warriors' first loss of the season and saw the side drop to second place in the PKL points table with Dabang Delhi on top after its draw against Gujarat Giants.

 

A last-second blunder from experienced defender Ravinder Pahal allowed Dabang Delhi’s Naveen Kumar to secure a raid point and hold Gujarat Lions to 24-24 tie in the Pro Kabaddi League here on Sunday.

Delhi’s star raider once again secured a Super 10 (11 points), his third in three matches of Season 8 - but the team was lucky to escape with a tie after another match filled with mistakes from its defence.

As it happened:

Gujarat will only have themselves to blame after Rakesh Sanrogya and Rakesh Narwal had opened up a chance for them to win the encounter against Season 7 runners-up.

Despite the focus on Gujarat’s defence, it was the raiders who secured most points for the Giants in a closely fought first half.

Delhi is the only unbeaten side left in the league this season.

(With inputs from PTI)