PKL 9: Bengaluru Bulls hold onto lead against Haryana Steelers, Puneri Paltan beat Tamil Thalaivas

Fazel Atrachali completed 400 tackle points in PKL history to become the first defender to do so.

The in-form Bengaluru Bulls took their revenge on Haryana Steelers as they beat the opposition 36-33 in their reverse game at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi, Pune on Wednesday to climb to top of the PKL 9 table. Haryana took a big risk in the match, keeping in-form raider Meetu on the substitution bench in place of Vinay and Bulls made them pay for the crucial error. Neeraj Narwal stole the show for Bulls, earning 9 points, and setting the win for his team. 

The match started with Manjeet getting an ankle hold on the dangerous Bharat and earning Haryana Steelers a point. But Manjeet was himself caught by Bulls captain Mahender Singh as his team levelled the scoreline. Moments later, Neeraj Narwal earned a SUPER RAID and then Aman took down Nitin Rawal to inflict an ALL OUT on Steelers.

With Manjeet and Vinay unable to get raid points, Steelers brought in Meetu. But he was caught straightaway and Bengaluru Bulls inflicted another ALL OUT on Haryana to get a hefty lead. Mayur Kadam also joined the party in the final minutes of the first half as he took down Lovepreet Singh and Meetu to get two tackle points as the Bulls led at 27-11 at the end of the first half.

The second half started with Meetu earning a raid plus a bonus point to give some hopes to Haryana Steelers. He earned another bonus point in his next raid as Steelers showcased that they will not go down without a fight. Minutes later, Bharat was caught by Monu Hooda as Haryana earned another important point. An error from Vikash Kandola gave Manjeet a crucial raid point as Steelers reduced the gap at 19-32.

But Manjeet was caught in his next raid by Aman as Bengaluru ensured they continue to hold their grip on the game. With only minutes left in the game, Bengaluru Bulls started running down the clock and playing only on do-or-die raids. A herculean effort from Meetu gave Steelers a late SUPER RAID as Steelers inflicted an ALL OUT of their own. But in the end, it was not enough as Bengaluru managed to walk off the mat as winners.

PKL 9 Day 30 Match 2: Tamil Thalaivas 34-35 Puneri Paltan

Fazel Atrachali fulfilled two promises, one to beat the Tamil Thalaivas and the second to catch Narender out for his 400th tackle point in the vivo Pro Kabaddi League, all in one game as the Puneri Paltan beat the Thalaivas 35-34 in a match that had the crowd at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi on their feet on Wednesday. A complete team performance saw Atrachali get five points, while Aslam Inamdar racked up six for the home team.

Much like the first time these two met in this leg, the Thalaivas were the ones off to a quick start and had rallied into a lead very early. Pune's raiders by contrast, struggled to make any impact, registering a mere seven points in the first half. The Thalaivas inflicted the first ALL OUT of the game consolidating themselves into a 14-8 lead. 

The one silver lining for the Paltan and the home fans came via Fazel Atrachali, who reached a personal milestone in the half. Prior to their first encounter, the Iranian legend, then on 397 points, said he would love to make Narender his 400th tackle point — the first defender to do so in the league. Alas, in a bruising first meeting it did not come to pass as Fazel was stranded with just the one point in the game. Today, he got his 400th point, and duly it came on a Narender raid. Despite that though, the Thalaivas went into the break leading 18-12.

That Atrachali milestone galvanized the Paltan defence in the second half, as the home team inched their way back into the game. In a high-octane game of kabaddi, neither team was prepared to give an inch to the other, and neither streaked ahead too far either. Atrachali got his HIGH FIVE with a tackle on Narender again as the Paltan pulled to within four points with five minutes remaining. 

Paltan came clutch in that period, inflicting their first ALL OUT of the game to surge into a 33-30 lead. With barely two minutes remaining it seemed like the Paltan had stitched up the perfect heist, only for a silly error right at the end, getting the Thalaivas to within one point, with two raids available. With their final raid, Paltan's Akash Shinde coaxed an error out of Sagar, and from there on, only one team was going to be the winner, as the crowd went into raptures. 

PKL 9 Award Winners of the Night:

Match 1: Bengaluru Bulls vs Haryana Steelers

vivo Perfect Player of the Match - Neeraj Narwal (Bengaluru Bulls)

Dream 11 Gamechanger of the Match - Mahender Singh (Bengaluru Bulls) 

Moment of the Match - Meetu (Haryana Steelers)

Match 2: Dabang Delhi K.C. vs Telugu Titans

vivo Perfect Player of the Match - Akash Shinde (Puneri Paltan)

Dream 11 Gamechanger of the Match - Fazel Atrachali (Puneri Paltan)

Moment of the Match - Akash Shinde (Puneri Paltan)

PKL 9 Tune In details (11/11/2022)

7:30 PM: U.P. Yoddhas vs Haryana Steelers

8:30 PM: U Mumba vs Puneri Paltan

9:30 PM: Patna Pirates vs Jaipur Pink Panthers

Venue: Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi, Pune