The Bengaluru Bulls put on a spectacular show for their home fans on Friday evening in the second game of the opening day of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 9, swatting away the challenge from the Telugu Titans 34-29 at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium.
For the Bulls, Neeraj Narwal finished with 7 points, while the duo of Vikash Kandola and Bharat chipped in with 5 points each, helping begin their campaign with a thumping win.
It was the Titans who got proceedings going as Vinay got the first raid in very quickly. Siddharth Desai pitched in too, before the defence Bharat and Bengaluru Bulls had their raid foiled. The early momentum was with the Telugu Titans, who were working well as a unit.
The hosts, Bengaluru, who have a well-settled core, fought back after the early exchanges, wiping out the slender lead, as Bharat, Saurabh Nandal and Neeraj Narwal led the charge, picking up points in emphatic fashion.
The Bulls inflicted an all-out just before the midway stage in the first half, which saw them edge into a five-point lead.
Momentarily rattled, Telugu found another gear with the introduction of Rajnish, whose Super Raid set the cat among the pigeons just before the breather. Rajnish engineered an all-out on the Bulls right after, as both teams went into the break at 17-17.
The second half started off slow, but with the Titans still in a slender lead in the first five minutes. However, the Bulls used their review smartly with Neeraj picking up the points on a Do or Die Raid, to bring the contest back to level terms.
The Bulls and the Titans weren't willing to concede even an inch, matching each other play by play. With a little over 9 minutes left on the clock, both teams were locked at 23-23, with the Bulls' defence looking rock solid at the timeout.
An untimely slip caused mayhem for the Titans, as Vishal and co conceded a couple of big points. From then on in, the Bulls put the foot on the pedal and inflicted another all out which gave them a 5-point lead with the score at 30-25.
With the clock ticking, Rajnish and the Titans threw the kitchen sink at the opposition, but the Bulls' defence were at menacing best, gobbling up the points at a rapid pace. The Bulls, who registered 12 tackle points in comparison to the 7 of the Titans, ended their night as comfortable winners.
( With inputs from ANI )
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