Pro Kabaddi League: Bengaluru Bulls Defeat Tamil Thalaivas, U Mumba Beat Haryana Steelers

Bengaluru Bulls earned the bragging rights in the Southern derby as they beat Tamil Thalaivas 44-35 in the sixth edition of the Pro Kabaddi league on Wednesday. Pawan Sehrawat (16 raid points) and Kashiling Adake (12 raid points) were the star performers for Bengaluru as they registered their second consecutive win of the tournament. In the other match of the night, Haryana Steelers lost 32-42 to U Mumba, who are currently running on an unbeaten streak in the tournament. This loss means that Haryana Steelers have lost their last four games at home. Siddharth Desai starred for U Mumba with a total of 15 raid points and Surender Singh was their top defender with three tackle point. For Haryana Steelers, Monu Goyat recorded 15 raid points and Parveen was their top defender with four tackle points.

After this match, U Mumba tops the Zone A points table with 18 points from four matches and Haryana Steelers are in the fifth position with six points from six matches.

Earlier, Tamil Thalaivas suffered their fifth straight defeat of the season. Ajay Thakur once again tried to salvage the match for the Thalaivas but couldn't get enough support. Kashiling Adake started the match with a bang as he came up with a super raid in the 2nd minute to give Bengaluru Bulls a 4-1 lead. 

Ajay Thakur got his first point of the match in the fourth minute as Tamil Thalaivas trailed 2-4. Kashiling Adake made another successful raid as Bengaluru Bulls inflicted an all out to lead 9-2.

Tamil Thalaivas were clearly struggling against a much fitter outfit in Bengaluru Bulls as they didn't have an answer to their raiding prowess. In the sixth minute Pawan Sehrawat came up with a four-point raid to give Bengaluru Bulls a 14-3 lead.

Tamil Thalaivas defence had a half to forget as they scored just two tackle points. At the end of the first half Bengaluru Bulls led 25-14 with Kashiling Adake scoring 10 points.

Tamil Thalaivas began the second half strongly as they inflicted an all out in the 24th minute to cut the deficit to 21-29. The team tried hard to make a comeback but Bengaluru Bulls' defence was on top of their game. 

With their lead cut to just six points, they made crucial tackles to lead 33-24 in the 30th minute.

Tamil Thalaivas suffered a big blow in the second half when their skipper Ajay Thakur was stretchered off the mat as he suffered an injury. 

With less than five minutes left, Bengaluru Bulls had opened an 11-point gap and were on course to a comfortable victory.

Tamil Thalaivas forced a super tackle in the 37th minute as they trailed 31-41. Another super tackle was forced by Thalaivas as they trailed 34-43 in the 39th minute. 

The Thalaivas defence's poor first half showing was one of the main reasons why they suffered another defeat.

(With IANS inputs)