Bengal Warriors end home leg with thrilling win against Bengaluru Bulls

Bengal Warriors managed to get the better of Bengaluru Bulls in a high-scoring thriller by a scoreline of 42-40 in the final match at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium in Kolkata on Thursday. Mohammad Nabibakhsh contributed all-around as he scored 3 raid points to go with his High 5. But the star of the show for Bengal Warriors was skipper Maninder Singh who scored 17 raid points and helped his team overcome Pawan Sehrawat’s 19-raid point effort.

Bengal Warriors raced ahead in the opening minutes through their captain Maninder Singh, who put in four successful raids, including a two-pointer, without being tackled even once. However, he got Super Tackled by Ankit in the 7^th minute to put Bengaluru Bulls in the lead at 7-8.

Mohammad Nabibakhsh’s unsuccessful Do-or-Die raid followed by Rohit Kumar’s successful one then helped Bengaluru Bulls open up a four-point advantage. But Sukesh Hegde took out Mahender Singh in a Do-or-Die raid and followed it up with another successful two-point Do-or-Die raid to tie the scores at 12-all

Maninder then managed a touch on Ajay before Bengal Warriors completed an All-Out three minutes before the half ended by tackling Sumit Singh, taking a one-point lead in the contest. They hung on to that lead going into halftime as the scores favoured them 16-15.

The ‘Hi-Flyer’ started the second period in style for Bengaluru Bulls with a Super Raid, before Saurabh Nandal extended their lead by sending Hegde to the bench. Sehrawat then put in three back-to-back successful raids which eventually inflicted the All-Out on Bengal Warriors, opening up a seven-point lead for Bengaluru Bulls.

Sehrawat brought up his Super 10 soon after Bengal Warriors reassembled and Bengaluru Bulls’ defence helped the team take control of the match by sending the dangerous Maninder to the bench. However, Bengal Warriors managed to tackle down Sehrawat in his next two raids and then brought the score difference down to four through Nabibakhsh and Maninder in attack.

With a quarter of the contest still to be played, Nabibakhsh showcased his all-round ability with a successful tackle on Sehrawat which brought up his first vivo Pro Kabaddi High 5, while Maninder and Hegde’s raids added up to another All-Out on Bengaluru Bulls and put Bengal Warriors back on top at 32-31.

Both teams chose to rely on bonus points after that stage as the scores remained tied. Maninder’s Super Raid with less than three minutes left on the clock looked like it could turn things Bengal Warriors’ way, but Sehrawat struck back with a two-point raid to send Nabibakhsh and Rinku to the bench and also level the scores at 38 apiece.

Maninder and Sehrawat matched each other point-for-point from there but Bengal Warriors pulled off back-to-back tackles on Sehrawat and Rohit Kumar in Bengaluru Bulls’ final two raids to help their team claim victory.

Top Performers:

Bengal Warriors –

Best Raider – Maninder Singh (17 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Mohammad Nabibakhsh (6 Tackle Points)

Bengaluru Bulls –

Best Raider – Pawan Sehrawat (19 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Ankit (3 Tackle Points)