Best Defender of the Match – Vishal Mane (Bengal Warriors)
Best Raider of the Match – Rohit Kumar (Bengaluru Bulls)
FULL TIME Bengal Warriors 25 – 27 Bengaluru Bulls
40’ Bengal Warriors 25 – 27 Bengaluru Bulls - ASHISH SANGWAN!! He gets Vishal Mane out of the mat by ane excellent touch point. Two points the difference with a minute and a half remaining. Ashish forces the do or die raid on Monu Goyat and he tackles down the Bengal raider to reduce the lead to one point. Rohit Kumar raids with just 40 seconds to go and SUPER RAID. Stunning stuff this. Bengaluru have produced a miracle but will it be enough? Bengal review. UNSUCCESSFUL. The last raid of the game with the Super Tackle on. Rohit Kumar does it. What a win by Bengaluru. BRILLIANT. Stunning comeback. Bengal will be dejected.
38’ Bengal Warriors 24 – 21 Bengaluru Bulls - Surender Nada delivers again by taking down Jang Kun Lee to reduce lead to two but a great tackle by his counterpart Shinde makes it three again. Both captains are doing really well. Just two and a half minutes to go. TIMEOUT taken.
37’ Bengal Warriors 23 – 20 Bengaluru Bulls - Decisive raid and that could turn the game the Bengal way. Monu Goyat with a do or die raid and gets two points. Disappointing from Mohit. But Ashish keeps his team in the hunt by pulling two points back. Intriguing match this is turning out to be. The second half has turned interesting. Rohit raids with bonus on offer but Vishal Mane will not have it. He gets the point for Bengal with a neck hold. SUPER TACKLE by NADA to follow that up. Lead down to three
34’ Bengal Warriors 20 – 16 Bengaluru Bulls - Monu Goyat starts proceedings after play resumes. Yogesh forces the do or die raid on Lee and they get it bang on. Brilliant stuff from Bengaluru. Despite having Rohit and Nada on the bench, Benagluru have managed to keep the game within reach. An empty raid by Bengal brings Yogesh on for Bengaluru but he does not get anything. Girish raids and wastes time. Excellent tactics from Bengal.
31’ Bengal Warriors 19 – 15 Bengaluru Bulls - Jang Kun Lee faces a do or die raid and there is no bonus but it does not matter as he deals a hefty blow to Bengaluru by sending Rohit Kumar out. The lead is five points and time is running out for the away side. They could be well on their way out of the tournament. Vinod Kumar with a do or die raid. He throws a wasteful Amit Chhillar to send him out. Bengaluru are not giving up. TIMEOUT
29’ Bengal Warriors 18 – 14 Bengaluru Bulls - Bengaluru get a point to reduce the lead to four points. They are slowly closing in on the home side here. Monu Goyat with a do or die raid and there is no bonus available. Nada stands tall and Bengaluru get their man. Momentum loss for Bengal and Bengaluru are smelling something. Yogesh Hooda plays it safe and Jang Kun Lee follows suit. This has turned into an interesting game. Ashish with a do or die raid and gets tackled.
26’ Bengal Warriors 17 – 12 Bengaluru Bulls - Bengal make a tactical switch to bring a defender on for a raider as Girish Ernak replaces Nitin Madane. They are clearly looking to target Rohit Kumar, who gets another touch point to put the pressure on Bengal. Jang Kun Lee with a do or die raid and his kick stings Mohit Chillar. Fascinating stuff from the Korean. The lead is back to five points. Rohit will do the bulk of the raiding in the second half.
23’ Bengal Warriors 16 – 11 Bengaluru Bulls - Jang Kun Lee starts the second half and forces Yogesh Hooda off the court. Bengal continue from where they left off. Bengal have been exceptional tonight and they raid through Madane but he gets tackled by Nada. Still a 7 point lead for Bengaluru and Rohit Kumar gets a bonus. Jang Kun Lee, injured and bandaged, thinks he gets a touch point but referee does not award it.
Second half coming up!!! Stay tuned
HALF TIME Bengal Warriors 15 – 8 Bengaluru Bulls
20’ Bengal Warriors 15 – 8 Bengaluru Bulls - An injured Jang Kun Lee is stopped by an unlikely defender in Rohit Kumar, who gets hold of the Korean’s ankle. Bengaluru get one point from their do or die raid. An empty raid by Nitin is followed by Rohit Kumar attacking but he does not get anything. Monu Goyat raids with just a minute to go and he kills time to help his team maintain the lead. Yogesh Hooda gets a touch point. The last raid of the half is a do or die one for Nitin Madane and he gets two points. Superb stuff.
17’ Bengal Warriors 13 – 5 Bengaluru Bulls - Do or die raid for Bengaluru and Rohit Kumar raids in front of a full strength Bengal. Vishal Mane gets his man and Rohit is out. Jang Kun Lee with his do or die raid and what a spectacular kick by the Korean. Bengal Warriors inflict an ALL OUT and they lead by 8 points. Superb stuff from the home team here. Just under three minutes to go.
14’ Bengal Warriors 7 – 5 Bengaluru Bulls - The game resumes with Vinod attacking for the Bulls but does not get anything. Nitin Madane’s empty raid is followed by a brillaint hold by C Arun on Ashish. Superb stuff from the Bengal defence. Jang Kun Lee is back but does not go to raid. Six minutes to go in the first half and it has been a really quiet half with the home team leading.
11’ Bengal Warriors 5 – 5 Bengaluru Bulls - The lead is down to one as the game has become a little stagnant here. Both teams are being really defensive. Jang Kun Lee with a do or die raid. He tries the kick but the Bengaluru Bulls defence pulls him back. Bengaluru have drawn level. Lee looks injured. This is worrying. TIMEOUT
9’ Bengal Warriors 5 – 3 Bengaluru Bulls - The Bengaluru Bulls are already looking pretty defensive and quite demotivated. The crowd cheers on as Jang Kun Lee raids and he delivers to get a touch on Jeeva Gopal with a back kick into the abdomen. Bengal have raced into a lead here. Bengaluru pull one back with a bonus. Monu Goyat raids with four men on the mat but plays safe.
6’ Bengal Warriors 4 – 2 Bengaluru Bulls - The game is leveled by the away side with five minutes gone. It has been a sedate start to proceedings. Nitin Madane with a do or die raid and looks for a running hand touch but gets the bonus. Rohit raids for Bengaluru but goes into the lobby. He is out
3’ Bengal Warriors 2 – 1 Bengaluru Bulls – The away team starts and it is not Rohit Kumar but Yogesh Hooda, who gets Nilesh Shinde straight away. Bengaluru on board. Nitin Madane’s empty raid is followed by another raid from Yogesh Hooda, who goes back without anything. There is a huge roar as Jang Kun Lee comes on for a raid. He tries a running hand touch but does not get anything. Vinod Kuma raids for Bulls. Empty raid. Nitin with the game’s first do or die raid and gets Nada. Yogesh Hooda with his do or die raid and gets tackled by Vishal Mane.
The teams come out and Bengal start with Nilesh Shinde, Jang Kun Lee, Nitin Madane, Vishal Mane, C Arun, Monu Goyat and Amit Singh Chhillar. Bengaluru Bulls, on the other hand, field a side featuring Rohit Kumar, Mohit Chillar, Ashish Kumar, Yogesh Hooda, Surender Nada and Vinod. We are ready to go!!!
What a first game we have had here and Telugu Titans have taught Dabang Delhi a lesson in attack, defence and kabaddi tactics. They won 36-28 and look well on their way to the semi-finals. Our attention, now, is towards the second game between Bengal Warriors and Bengaluru Bulls. The game is just about to begin. Stay tuned.
Catch the live commentary of this game in Hindi here
Good evening everyone and welcome to the live coverage of the last game of Pro Kabaddi 2016 Season 4’s Kolkata leg and it is the home team against Bengaluru Bulls in a bottom-table clash. While Bengal Warriors at the rock bottom in eighth with 20 points from 11 games, the Bulls have one point extra having played the same number of games. What is even more staggering is that both have hefty negative score differences (-41 for Bengal and -55 for Bengaluru), which effectively kills their chances of qualifying for the semi-final.
Bengal Warriors have significantly improved their performances ever since returning home, losing only one out of the three games. More importantly, they have managed to stem the flow of condemning defeats that were being handed to them previously. In yesterday’s game against Telugu Titans, Bengal showed glimpses of exceptional brilliance but ended up drawing the match from a winning position.
Jang Kun Lee, virtually, carried them on his shoulders and produced one of the performances of the season to almost take them to victory. However, a last moment error from Lee himself robbed Bengal off a famous victory.Along with Jang Kun Lee, Vishal Mane was also exceptional on the night and effected many a brilliant tackles. However, if the tournament is any indication, individuals hardly matter if the team is not playing well collectively.
Read: Pro Kabaddi 2016 Season 4: Barring his mind freeze moments, Jang Kun Lee is the Houdini of this season
Though it looks highly unlikely that Bengal Warriors will qualify for the semi-finals, they would like to end their home leg with a win. For that to happen, the likes of Nitin Madane, Monu Goyat and Nilesh Shinde will need to come together.
The story of Bengaluru Bulls is a really sad one and you have to feel for the franchise and its fans. It is quite bizarre how the Bulls have managed to perform so poorly despite having players capable of winning any team the title on their own. To put things into perspective, the third best raider in the league, Rohit Kumar (55 raid points in 11 games), hails from Bengaluru Bulls and so does the best defender – Mohit Chillar (33 tackles in 11 matches).
It is like saying that Virat Kohli and Dale Steyn are playing together in a team, performing well but their unit is losing all matches. There has to be a solid reason for this and the most visible is the lack of support for the two, especially Rohit Kumar, who looks tremendously under pressure while attacking. Mohit, similarly, has often been left helpless and the last man standing on the mat.
For any sort of thing to happen tonight for either side, it would need to be a collective effort and not some individual burst of brilliance. Both teams would be looking to get a win, if not for qualification then for some pride, which is really important in the long run.
