Kolkata:Â Hosts Bengal Warriors put up an amazing display to bounce back from behind and upset defending champions Jaipur Pink Panthers in a thrilling finish to open their tally, while Bengaluru Bulls defeated Patna Pirates for their second win of the Pro Kabaddi League in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Bengal Warriors, who finished a disappointing second from the bottom in the inaugural season, thus logged their first points in a thrilling fashion as they stunned Panthers 28-26 to kick off their home leg in style.
With the first win of Season Two, Bengal Warriors (five points) jumped to fourth place from two outings, behind third placed Bengaluru Warriors who defeated Patna 31-26 in a convincing fashion.
U Mumba lead the table with 20 points with all wins from their four matches, while the heartbreak loss pushed Pink Panthers to fifth place in the standings.
Patna Pirates suffered their second successive losses as they are on one point from two matches.
Severely let down by their raids, Bengal Warriors trailed 12-15 at half time as Jaipur rode on Jasvir Singh’s brilliant raids to race to a 20-14 lead in the second half with team owner Abhishek Bachchan cheering from behind.
Backed by a packed home support at the 7,000 capacity Netaji Indoor Stadium, Bengal Warriors relied heavily on their defense to log points, while Jasvir secured points at ease en route to the ‘Best Raider’ award.
Aided by some smart moves by Nilesh Shinde who was adjudged the ‘Best Defender’, Bengal Warriors held their nerves and tackled Jasvir twice.
The second tackle of Jasvir, which came after Bengal Warriors secured two points, was most crucial as they closed on 25-26 in the final minute as Panthers crumbled under pressure.
It was a heart break for Panthers in the closing minutes as the team were all out to concede a fine win to Bengal Warriors.
In the second match of the evening, Bengaluru Bulls took up a commanding 16-8 at halftime but with five minutes to go team Patna showed some fight but that was not enough.
Bengaluru captain Manjeet Chillar was the star of their win with an all-round display as he led from the front for yet another solid display.
Chillar logged four raid points, and seven tackle points to be the star of their win.