Rohit Kumar’s second Super 10 gives Bengaluru Bulls first home win

Captain Rohit Kumar led Bengaluru Bulls from the front and scored his second Super 10 to give his team a 36-22 victory over Tamil Thalaivas at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune on Saturday. Substitute Anil Kumar managed six tackle points in eight attempts for Tamil Thalaivas to lead their defence.

Bengaluru Bulls picked up an early lead by sending Ajay Thakur to the bench early and then scoring four straight raid points through their strong raiding trio. This reduced Tamil Thalaivas to three men on the mat and gave them an opportunity to pick up a Super Tackle. They waited till Bengaluru Bulls’ Do-or-Die raid to strike but Rohit Kumar managed to evade a Thigh Hold from Jasvir Singh and pick up the point. From there they managed to inflict the first All-Out on Tamil Thalaivas in the 9^th minute to take a 10-3 lead.

Check out the photos from the match here.

Once Tamil Thalaivas reassembled on the mat, Jasvir Singh started things off well for them by picking up two straight raid points. But Sehrawat picked up a 2-point raid immediately after to allow Bengaluru Bulls to firmly hold onto the advantage.

Bengaluru Bulls managed to reduce Tamil Thalaivas to three men on the mat yet again but the visitors managed to send Sehrawat to the bench twice in two of his successive raids and then strike through Thakur to stay in the game at 17-11 with the last minute to play. Before the halftime whistle, Tamil Thalaivas managed to force a Do-or-Die raid on Bengaluru Bulls and tackle Rohit Kumar to ensure all three of Bengaluru Bulls’ leading raiders were on the bench in the second half. However, the home team still had a 17-12 lead.

After exchanging points for a while in the second half, Bengaluru Bulls managed to once again build momentum through Rohit Kumar’s 2-point raid to give his team a 22-14 lead. But Manjeet Chhillar took down Sehrawat in a Super Tackle situation to initiate a Tamil Thalaivas comeback.

Visit the matchcentre to relive the contest here.

The visitors then scored three of the next four points to bring the game close at 25-21. However, two straight successful tackles by Bengaluru Bulls, first on Jasvir Singh and then on D. Pradap, reduced Tamil Thalaivas to three men on the mat yet again.

This time Bengaluru Bulls managed to inflict the All-Out and took a 32-21 lead in the match with less than four minutes to play. From there, they allowed Tamil Thalaivas just one point through Thakur but managed to score three tackle points and one touch point themselves to seal the game at 36-22.

Top Performers –

Bengaluru Bulls

Best Raider: Rohit Kumar (10 raid points)

Best Defender: Mahender Singh (4 tackle points)

Tamil Thalaivas

Best Raider: Ajay Thakur (6 raid points)

Best Defender: Anil Kumar (6 tackle points)