The Bengal Warriors subjected the UP Yoddhas to their fifth defeat in a row in the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 10, beating them 42-37 at the SMS Indoor Stadium on Saturday. Despite Pardeep Narwal scoring 16 points, the Yoddhas were outdone by the all-round teamwork of the Bengal Warriors.
Maninder Singh (14 points) and Nitin Kumar (10 points) were the best performers for their team on a winning night, as per a PKL press release. The contest was billed as a raider’s paradise and did not disappoint early on, with Maninder Singh in particular keen to stamp his authority on the game. The Bengal Warriors’ raider grabbed nine points in the first half alone and was not tackled once. And yet he wasn’t the only one making hay. On the other end, his counterpart Pardeep Narwal took 7 points in the half to keep his side in the game.
The difference was the fact that the Warriors had other raiders chipping in with points and a defence that logged 4 points to the UP Yoddhas one. It helped the Bengal Warriors inflict the first all-out of the game and they went into the break holding a comfortable lead.
The UP Yoddhas kicked off the second half at a furious pace and within three minutes, they had inflicted an all-out of their own to reduce the deficit to 20-24. The Warriors were in no mood to capitulate, though, and slowly picked up the pieces to rebuild their lead.
Narwal was working overtime to reduce the deficit almost on his own, with the rest of the team failing to back up his performance. His relentless raiding, though, helped the UP Yoddhas inflict a second all-out, reducing the deficit to three points with under 2 minutes to play. In the end, though, the Warriors held their nerve and smartly played down the clock to take a well-deserved victory.
