Pune, Bengaluru win in PKL

Pune, Nov 28 (IANS) Puneri Paltan staged a superb comeback to beat Haryana Steelers 35-33 in a thrilling Pro Kabaddi League match here on Wednesday. This was Pune's third successive victory over Haryana in this competition. It was a contest of contrasting halves as Haryana dominated the opening period to open up a 15-point lead. But Pune were a transformed unit after the break and overturned the gap to win an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Both teams had a tentative start before Haryana rode a series of successful raids to gradually build up a formidable 22-8 lead by half-time. Pune made a good comeback after the break to close the gap. But Monu Goyat pulled off a 'super raid' to help Haryana maintain their dominance. However, Pune continued to rack up the points with several successful raids and inflicted an all-out on Haryana to close the gap to 21-27. Pune continued to chip away at Haryana's lead and earned a second all-out to take the lead at 31-29. The final few minutes saw a tough battle but Pune held on to their slender lead to clinch victory. The second match of the evening saw a close hard fought contest which saw Bengaluru Bulls beat Telugu Titans 34-26. It was a neck-and-neck affair from start to finish. With scores tied at 25-25 with a couple of minutes to go, Bengaluru earned an all-out which set up for a strong finish.
--IANS ajb/nir