Maninder’s ninth Super 10 of the season leads Bengal Warriors to narrow win over Telugu Titans

A gritty rally in the second half, led by Maninder Singh, helped the Bengal Warriors beat Telugu Titans 28-27. The Warriors skipper finished the game with 10 points, while Titans’ raider Rajnish was the game’s top scorer with 11. With this win, the Warriors climbed to seventh on the vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 8 league table, three points behind U.P. Yoddha, who are currently fourth.  

Neither team could seize the advantage early in the contest as the game remained evenly poised at 4-4. Rajnish’s two-point raid gave the Titans a slender lead, but Sukesh Hegde and Maninder helped the Warriors draw parity on the scoreboard.

The contest boiled down into a slow burner, with both teams making it difficult for the other to score points. Rajnish and Beniwal combined to put the Titans up by two, but the Warriors responded with a 4-1 run, courtesy of a couple of tackle points and two from Maninder to go into the break leading 14-13.

The Titans started the second half brighter, scoring three unanswered points, with Kandola, Rajnish and Akash contributing one point each help their side regain their two-point advantage. The Warriors managed to cut the deficit to one, but Rajnish’s Super Raid pushed the Titans’ lead up to four.

Prince D then put the Titans firmly in the driver’s seat as he pinned down Hegde to reduce the Warriors to three on the mat. But the reigning champions showcased their fortitude, as the defence Super Tackled Rajnish and Maninder picked up two touch points to cut the deficit to two.

Maninder then picked up a touch point on successive raids, leaving the Titans with just a solitary player on the mat. The defence sat back and allowed Rajnish to pick the bonus before Ran Singh pinned the raider down to inflict the game’s first and only All Out and help the Warriors take a two-point lead.

Maninder extended Bengal’s advantage to three with a successful bonus attempt, and Rajnish had seemingly picked one up too to bring the Titans’ deficit back down at two. But a review from the Warriors took Rajnish’s bonus off the scoreboard and the Warriors retained their three-point advantage.

Rajnish did manage to pick up a bonus in his subsequent raid, but with under 30 seconds left in the game, Nabibakhsh went in and saw the clock wind down to zero before getting tackled, which gave the Titans a point but secured a narrow win for the Warriors.     

Top Performers

Bengal Warriors

Best Raider – Maninder Singh (10 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Ran Singh (4 Tackle Points)

Telugu Titans

Best Raider – Rajnish (11 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Sandeep Kandola (4 Tackle Points)