A major upset in the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League Season 4 was averted as Bengal Warriors tied the game with Puneri Paltan. Bengal Warriors made a mess of a game they should have won when they settled for a tie with Puneri Paltan in the 30th match of the fourth season of Pro Kabaddi League. Although Paltans made a stunning comeback in the second half, they still couldn’t better the Bengal Warriors, whose skipper Nilesh Shinde made some costly tactical errors in the match.
The 8th placed Bengal Warriors needed to play as if their lives depended on the result of the match and they did play exactly like that in the first 10 minutes. The team’s defence, which has been severely criticized, came good and made tackles as if it was out to prove a point.
Not many expected them to give the Puneri Paltan much of a challenge but within 10 minutes of the first half, the shoe was on the other foot as the side from Pune looked under immense pressure.
The match started on a bit of a dramatic note as Jang Kun Lee, back in the side after an injury lay-off, asked for a review even before the whistle was blown and lost the team a crucial review. But the Korean made up for it by unleashing impressive raids with Nitin Madane that saw the Warriors race to 10 points when the Puneri Paltan were only at 3.
For a while, though, it looked liked as if the Warriors were haunted by the unlucky 13 as Puneri Paltan mounted a stunning challenge to close in the gap with the Warriors stuck at 13. Deepak Niwas Hooda took out the major raiders of Warriors and Pune was breathing down Bengal’s neck as the score read 11-13.
The introduction of Monu Goyat reinvigorated the Warriors as they continued their march to a comfortable lead. However, Pune were determined to turn the tables and when the half time whistle rang, they had a good shot at it as they were behind by merely just two points and Bengal had just one man on the mat.
Half Time: Bengal Warriors – 18 Puneri Paltan 16
Second half started with Jang Kun Lee saving the team from the all out, but was taken out by Deepak Niwas Hooda in the hot pursuit. Warriors, however, couldn’t delay the inevitable much as Puneri Paltan equalized with the 2 points that inflicted the first all out of the match on the Warriors.
Ravinder Pahal put the Paltan in lead when he brought down Jang Kun Lee and Warriors were once again left doing something that they had been doing throughout the season – chasing the opponent. The dominance of the first ten minutes had given way to nervousness which made the defence make mistakes of which Deepak Niwas Hooda made brilliant use of to get his 10 points of the match.
Vishal Mane equalized for the Warriors with a super tackle and with just 10 minutes left on the clock, the score was locked on 27-27. The next five minutes saw a cat and mouse game between the teams. Jang-Kun Lee’s brilliance came to the fore when he took out Manjeet Chillar with a ferocious raid. But he showed he had the full range when he foolishly leapt at a retreating Deepak Niwas Hooda to give Pune the advantage.
Puneri Paltan, however, were dealt with a major blow when their skipper Manjeet Chillar found himself injured after a failed raid attempt in the 35th minute. A super tackle in the 36th minute by skipper Nilesh Shinde calmed some nerves in the Bengal camps as they gained a slender lead when with two and a half minutes lead.
But smiles vanished seconds later when Jang Kun Lee slipped on his raid attempt to give an easy point to the team.
It all came down to the last raid by Deepak Niwas Hooda as the tall raider faced three Warriors’ defenders with the scores tied at 34-34. Had Hooda made a successful raid, Puneri Paltan would have had their fifth win in the kitty, but Hooda played it safe and let the game end as a tie.
After their performance in first 10 minutes, the tied result was nothing less than a loss to the Warriors whose win drought continues in season 4.
Full Time: Bengal Warriors – 34 Puneri Paltan 34
