A thrilling Sunil Kumar led comeback by Gujarat Fortunegiants in the second half fell just short as Bengal Warriors held on to win by a scoreline of 28-26 at the EKA Arena by TransStadia in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. K. Prapanjan successfully managed to score in the buzzer raid to help Bengal Warriors climb to the second spot in the Season 7 standings.

K. Prapanjan in action against Gujarat Fortunegiants in Match 41.

Gujarat Fortunegiants raced to a 2-0 lead but Bengal Warriors responded with three unanswered points to take a slender lead of their own. The two teams went back-and-forth and matched each other point-for-point as the scores remained at 8-8 twelve minutes into the first half.

Mohammad Nabibakhsh’s successful raid reduced Gujarat Fortunegiants down to three men but in the all-rounder’s subsequent raid, the home team managed to Super Tackle him and add two points to their score. However, Vijin Thangadurai’s tackle on Sonu and Maninder Singh’s touch point on Ruturaj Koravi left Gujarat Fortunegiants with just two men on the mat.

Nabibakhsh went in to raid again and fought through Parvesh Bhainswal and Sachin’s tackle attempts to inflict the game’s first All-Out on Gujarat Fortunegiants. Bengal Warriors then added two more points to their total, while allowing just one as the two teams headed into the half-time break with the scoreboard reading 17-12 in the visitors’ favour.

Gujarat Fortunegiants managed five Super Tackles against Bengal Warriors.

Bengal Warriors continued to score points at regular intervals to keep any chance of a Gujarat Fortunegiants comeback at bay as the gap remained at five points a quarter of the way into the second half. They then upped the ante and scored three off the next four points to extend their lead to eight and reduce Gujarat Fortunegiants to three on the mat. But Gujarat Fortunegiants’ defence showed resilience and Super Tackled Nabibakhsh, before repeating that feat against Maninder just a couple of minutes later.

The home team then added two more Super Tackles to their tally, levelling the match at 26-26. Nabibakhsh’s successful tackle on Sonu put Bengal Warriors up by one and reduced Gujarat Fortunegiants back down to three men, as the clock went down to the final minute of the contest.

All-rounder Vinod Kumar smartly put in two quick empty raids forcing a Do-Or-Die raid on Bengal Warriors with just 12 seconds left on the clock. Prapanjan came in to raid in the must-score situation and managed to get a touch before escaping to the midline, confirming his team’s fourth victory of the campaign.

Top Performers –

Bengal Warriors

Best Raider – K. Prapanjan (8 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Mohammad Nabibakhsh (2 Tackle Points)

Gujarat Fortunegiants

Best Raider – Sachin (6 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Sunil Kumar (6 Tackle Points)