PKL 8: Bengaluru Bulls thrash Dabang Delhi KC 61-22

Bengaluru, Jan 12 (IANS) Bengaluru Bulls decimated Dabang Delhi KC 61-22 in the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 at The Sheraton Grand, Whitefield here on Wednesday. Pawan Sehrawat scored an outstanding 27 points from 27 raids as the Bulls ran riot against a Delhi side missing star player Naveen Kumar.

The 39-point victory was the second biggest win in Vivo PKL history and helped the Bulls jump to the top of the points table.

The lack of a secondary raider hurt Dabang Delhi K.C. who suffered their second loss of the season. The nature of the loss will also hurt Delhi whose score difference went to -4 because of the loss.

There was no place in the Delhi starting 7 for Ajay Thakur despite the absence of Naveen Kumar with Vijay and Neeraj Narwal shouldering the raiding responsibilities. Delhi looked toothless in attack without the Naveen Express, but their defence managed to restrict Pawan Sehrawat’s time on the mat in the initial minutes.

But once the Bulls defenders got their act together, there was no stopping their charge. Pawan Sehrawat’s raid points and Saurabh Nandal’s tackles helped the Bulls get their first ALL OUT with 4 minutes remaining.

Ajay Thakur was brought onto the mat after Neeraj Narwal picked up a head injury but that didn’t change the fortunes for the Delhi side. Pawan’s blitzkrieg in the dying minutes of the half gave the Bulls another ALL OUT. The first half ended 27-11 with Bengaluru in a big lead.

The second half belonged completely to the Bulls who picked up points after points from a clueless Delhi defence. Bengaluru got their third ALL OUT in the 6th minute of the half and followed it up with another in the 11th minute to open a 33-point lead. Delhi’s lack of a Plan B in the absence of Naveen Kumar got exposed as experienced players looked at each other for answers.

Pawan Sehrawat crossed 20 raid points with 9 minutes still left as the Bulls crossed the 50-point mark. The bulls clinched another ALL OUT as they moved to an unbelievable 40-point lead with 2 minutes to play. The Bulls defenders saw out the final raids to help them jump to the top of the points table.

–IANS
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