Pro Kabaddi League: Delhi on top four after routing Bengal

Kolkata: Dabang Delhi shot into top four after thrashing hosts Bengal Warriors while Bengaluru Bulls scripted a fine comeback in the second half to hand Puneri Paltan their fourth successive loss in the Pro Kabaddi League at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here on Saturday.

Riding some rock solid tackle by stand-in captain Ravinder Singh Pahal and Amit Chhillar, Delhi Dabang pinned down almost every effort of the home side en route to capping a comprehensive 32-21 win.

Delhi also were menacing with their raids with Kashiling Adake and Rohit Chaudary scoring six each to hand them a commanding 10-point lead with two minutes left.

Chaudary was adjudged Best Raider, while Pahal who led the side in absence of Jasmer Singh, was adjudged 'Best Defender'.

Having returned to winning ways against Puneri Paltan, Delhi (10) thus displaced Bengal Warriors from fourth place with second successive win here.

Backed by cheering fans, Bengal Warriors on the other hand cut a sorry figure, ending their home stretch on a disappointing note.

U Mumba (25 points) lead the eight-team standings with an all win record, 10 points clear of Telugu Titans and Bengaluru Bulls after the conclusion of Kolkata leg.

The caravan style league's next and third stop will be Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur where hosts Pink Panthers will face Patna Pirates, and Telugu Titans will take on U Mumba tomorrow.

In the first match of the day, Bengaluru were slow to start with and trailed 12-13 at halftime but were quick to regroup take away the match with a convincing 31-26 win.

Captain Manjeet Chillar put up an allround show in both raid and tackle to log six points.

Chillar was finely supported by Ashish Chhokar who carded six raid points including three bonus points to be awarded 'Best Raider'.

Local lad Rajest Mondal too impressed in front of the home crowd as he chipped in with four raid points and was instrumental in Bengaluru's comeback from behind.

This was Bengaluru's third win from four matches to remain on third place with 15 points in the table.

Puneri Paltan, on the other hand, lost another fine opportunity after leading till the break to stick to the bottom of the table with three points from four straight losses.

The Pune team had a brilliant defence Manoj Kumar's superb tackle points as he was adjudged 'Best Defender' but that was not enough as they were severely let down by their lacklustre raids.

By the half an hour mark, when Bengaluru Bulls went six points up, they never looked back.

Captain Wazir and Tushar Patil had given Pune a 4-0 lead and were ahead 12-8 to start with but Bengaluru soon regained the lost ground with Chhokar's fine 16th minute raid.

Bengaluru soon looked a regrouped unit and combined well in the defence too as they pinned down Pune captain Wazir and reduced the lead to one point at halftime.

Holding on to their momentum even after the changeover, Bengaluru levelled it at 13-13 with Mondal's successful raid.

Bengaluru gained the lead in the 22nd minute through a calculated tackle to knock out Pune's Pravin Niwale.