PKL 9: Puneri Paltan suffer narrow defeat against Bengaluru Bulls

Super 10s from Vikash Kandola and Bharat help the team from south win.

The Bengaluru Bulls sat comfortably with a 14-point lead at the end of the first half of the PKL 9 game, courtesy raiders Vikash Kandola and Bharat, but Puneri Paltan's Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat weren't going to give up. They came out all guns blazing in the second half and levelled the scores at 35-35. However, Kandola and Bharat ensured that the Bulls walked off the mat as winners with the score line reading 41-39 in the end.

Raiders Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat helped Puneri Paltan get off to a fabulous start as they raced away to a three-point lead at 5-2.  However, moments later, Vikash Kandola pulled off a multi-point raid as Bengaluru gained the lead at 8-6. The Bulls kept raging on and inflicted an ALL OUT in the 8th minute to widen their lead at 13-7. Aslam and Mohit kept effecting raids, but the Bulls managed to keep their noses in front. Bengaluru's Bharat got on a roll and picked up a flurry of raid points to hand his team a massive lead at 28-14 at the end of the first half. 

Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat picked up a few points in the second half, but the Puneri Paltan couldn't catch up with the Bengaluru Bulls. However, the Pune team kept fighting hard and inflicted an ALL OUT in the 32nd minute and got closer to Bulls' score at 26-33. Goyat picked up a couple of raid points to reduce the gap between the teams even more as the Bulls held on to a slender lead at 33-31 in the 36th minute. Moments later, the Pune team inflicted another ALL OUT to level the scores at 35-35. With less than 3 minutes to go on the clock, Kandola picked up a crucial raid point to hand Bulls the lead at 36-35. Thereafter, the Bengaluru Bulls held their nerve and closed out a narrow victory.

Award Winners of the Night - Day 3 of PKL 9:

Match 1: Jaipur Pink Panthers vs Patna Pirates

vivo Perfect Player of the Match  - Arjun Deshwal (Jaipur Pink Panthers)

Dream 11 Gamechanger of the Match  - Arjun Deshwal (Jaipur Pink Panthers)

Moment of the Match  - Bhavani Rajput (Jaipur Pink Panthers)

Match 2: Telugu Titans vs Bengal Warriors

vivo Perfect Player of the Match  - Maninder Singh (Bengal Warriors)

Dream 11 Gamechanger of the Match  - Deepak Niwas Hooda (Bengal Warriors)

Moment of the Match  - Maninder Singh (Bengal Warriors)

Match 3: Puneri Paltan vs Bengaluru Bulls

vivo Perfect Player of the Match  - Bharat (Bengaluru Bulls)

Dream 11 Gamechanger of the Match  - Vikash Kandola (Bengaluru Bulls)

Moment of the Match  - Bharat (Bengaluru Bulls)