PKL 8: Telugu Titans and Bengal Warriors share the spoils

Bengaluru, Feb 7 (IANS) Telugu Titans held Bengal Warriors to a 32-32 tie in match 101 of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8. The closely-fought encounter saw both teams take the lead multiple times before settling for a tie in the final minute.

Bengal captain Maninder Singh scored a Super 10 (11 points) but that wasn't once again enough to save his team. The defending champions will now need a flawless end to the season and a few other results going their way to make it to the Playoffs.

The Titans showed grit and courage against the Warriors to earn three points from the tie. Ankit Beniwal (9 points) and Rajnish (7 points) were the stars for the Titans who still have just one win in the entire season.

The first half was a cagey, low-scoring affair played at a very slow pace. Bengal captain Maninder Singh didn't have his usual influence on the mat as Titans defenders tackled him aggressively. The Telugu team also struggled in their raids with Rajnish and Adarsh failing to fetch points for their team.

The Titans inched closer to an all-out in the dying minutes of the first half, but Bengal Warriors produced two consecutive Super Tackles to shift the balance. The four points from the tackles helped Bengal take the 14-12 lead at half-time.

The Titans started the second half with a five-point raid (2 for out-of-bounds, 1 for touch and 2 for all-out) as Ankit Beniwal removed all the Warriors on the mat. That gave the Titans a four-point lead. But Maninder Singh was in no mood to let the Titans run away with the match. He produced a three-point Super Raid in the 6th minute after the restart and followed it with a 2-point raid.

Maninder secured his Super 10 to continue the fight back to the Titans. The captain inspired other members of the Bengal team with substitute Rahul effective in the defence. Manoj Gowda also chipped in with raid points as Bengal levelled the scores at 27-27 with five minutes on the clock.

Bengal used that momentum to clinch an all-out with three minutes remaining to get a three-point lead. To make matters worse for Titans, their raider Rajnish got a yellow card for dissent. But Ankit Beniwal immediately got a two-point raid for the Titans, and they followed it up with a successful tackle on Maninder Singh. That levelled the scores and the Telugu team decided to not risk in the final raid of the match.