Jaipur, Jan 14 (UNI) Bengal Warriors subjected U.P. Yoddhas to their fifth Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 defeat in a row after beating them 42-37 at the SMS Indoor stadium here on Saturday night.
Despite Pardeep Narwal’s 16 points, U.P. Yoddhas were outdone by the all-round teamwork of Bengal Warriors. Maninder Singh (14 points) and Nitin Kumar (10 points) were the best performers for their team on a winning night.
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 9 points in the first half alone, and was not tackled once. And yet he wasn’t the only one making hay. At the other end, his counterpart Pardeep Narwal took 7 points in the half, to keep his side in the game.
The difference really was the fact that the Warriors had other raiders chipping in with points, and a defence that logged 4 points to U.P. Yoddhas’ 1 in the first half. It helped Bengal Warriors inflict the first All-Out of the game and they went into the break holding a comfortable 21-14 lead.
U.P. 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.
Pardeep 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 U.P. Yoddhas to 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 ran down the clock to take a well deserved victory.
