Bengaluru, Dec 25 (IANS): Season 6 winners Bengaluru Bulls beat Tamil Thalaivas 38-30 on Day 3 of Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 held at The Sheraton Grand, Whitefield, here on Friday.

Pawan Sehrawat picked up nine points and was ably assisted by his raiding partners Chandran Ranjit (7 points) and Bharat (5 points) as the Bulls recovered from their Day 1 loss to win the Southern Derby against Tamil Thalaivas on Christmas eve.

The first half started with both defences looking strong and keeping a high line. Bulls' Sehrawat and Chandran Ranjit struggled to escape the strong arms of Thalaivas defenders. At the other end, K Prapanjan and Manjeet had a tough time against the Bulls' defence led by Aman in the left corner.

The game's changing point in the first half was provided by Bharat, who took over the raiding duties for the Bulls after their top two struggled. His lanky stature and reach caused trouble in the Thalaivas' defence and helped the Bulls secure an all-out in the 18th minute.

The first half ended 19-13 with Bengaluru in the lead.

Kabaddi is a game of momentum and Tamil Thalaivas ensured it remained with them in the early minutes of the next half. Surjeet Singh and Sahil Singh produced stellar tackles on the Bulls raiders as raider Manjeet helped Thalaivas secure an ALL OUT in the 4th minute of the half and take the lead.

The teams traded blows and the score was 21-25 with just 10 minutes remaining in the match. But a combination of successful tackling and brave raiding by Chandran Ranjit gave the Bulls an all-out with seven minutes remaining to open up a 5-point lead.

Despite Bhavani Rajput's valiant efforts with his raids, there was no comeback for Thaliavas. Bulls defender Saurabh Nandal secured his High 5 (5 tackle points) in the last move of the game.