Kolkata, July 25 (IANS) Bengaluru Bulls staged a remarkable comeback to defeat Puneri Paltans 31-26 while hosts Bengal Warriors lost to Dabang Delhi 21-32 in Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) matches at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here on Saturday.
The triumph helped Bengaluru retain third place with three wins from four games, whereas Paltan remain last in the leaderboard with four consecutive losses.
Bengal slumped to their third consecutive loss and have only one win from five games while Delhi jumped ahead of their opponents to the fourth place with two triumphs from three outings.
In the first contest, Paltan were quick off the blocks, racing to a 4-0 lead courtesy successful raids from skipper Wazir Singh and Tushar Patil and the defence too played its part in holding onto raiders.
But Bengaluru charged back into the match through their captain Manjeet Chillar who with his all-round performance made sure his side was breathing down the neck of its rival.
Bengaluru raider Ashish Chhokar was at the top of his game too as he stormed into the opponents half and clinched six points till the breather.
Wazir collected a few more points ensuring Paltan did not crumble under pressure and at half-time, they led 13-12.
It was again a tight contest after the break but Bengaluru, with more consistency, moved ahead and had a 27-19 lead at the 32nd-minute mark.
Raider Rajesh Mondal and Joginder Narwal combined with Dharmaraj Cheralatan to make sure they logged precious points for Bengaluru, even substitute Rakesh Narwal had three touch points to his credit.
Seeing the game going out of their grasp, Wazir again tried to take the game by the scruff of the neck as he along with Amit Rathi pulled back a few points and inched closer to Bengaluru.
Bengaluru, however, did not choke and held onto their lead till the end, winning the match 31-26.
In the last game of the night, Delhi surged ahead at halftime leading 15-10 against Bengal.
Delhi’s star raider Rohit Kumar Choudury made all the difference in the first 20 minutes of the game as he bagged six points including a bonus.
Bengal too had their moments as captain Dinesh Kumar and South Korean recruit Jang Kun Lee ventured into the opponent half successfully.
Locked at 5-5 in the 14th minute, Choudury was inspirational as he landed his palm on the middle line even after he was grabbed by three defenders. Warriors defender Nilesh Shinde suffered a blow to the head and had to be stretchered off the playing surface.
On the other side, Delhi captain Ravinder Pahal was brilliant in his defensive duties.
Bengal suffered another heavy jolt as Dinesh limped off the mat after halftime.
Empty, unsuccessful raids eventually made the hosts pay as Delhi clinched the game quite easily.