Bengaluru, Dec 30 (IANS): Bengaluru Bulls outplayed Haryana Steelers 42-28 in the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 match at the Sheraton Grand, Whitefield, here on Thursday.
Pawan Sehrawat was the toast of the night as he scored 22 points (19 raid points and 3 tackle points) to help the Bulls to register an emphatic win.
The gulf of difference in talent was evident as Pawan was exceptional on the night. Vikash Kandola was the next best raider with just 7 points. Incidentally, Pawan scored 39 points against the Haryana Steelers in the last season.
Pawan had good bursts of pace in his raids and got off the mark with a fine touch on Surender Nada and then followed it up with a touch on the right corner defender in his next raid as Bengaluru Bulls started dominating the game.
The Haryana outfit were given no time to get into action as they suffered an all-out at 5-10 even before things could settle down.
The Bengaluru outfit kept their cool with good defending skills as Aman and Saurabh Nandal combined well to stop a rampaging Vikash Kandola.
Haryana Steelers knew they had to stop a rampaging Pawan to stage a comeback and it was Ravi Kumar who did well to stop the star raider on his run as the Steelers tried to reduce the deficit at 9-16.
The Haryana team slowly crawled back into the match at 11-17 when they successfully tackled Chandran Ranjit and it was veteran Surender Nada who sent Pawan back to the bench immediately with a good back hold.
Nada used all his experience and anticipated a back-kick and then when Pawan went for a reverse toe touch, Nada did well with a back hold.
Bengaluru Bulls were a team to never be out of the contest as they increased their lead gradually to lead 19-13 at half time.
The Bulls started the second half with a bang when they tackled Vikas with a moment of brilliance from substitute More GB. It brought their star raider Pawan back on the mat as Bengaluru led 20-13. Pawan soon brought up his Super 10, his third of the season, with a bonus point as Bengaluru grew from strength to strength.
Just when Rohit was growing into the game, it was More who was again in action as he sent him back to the bench with a splendid tackle. More initiated an ankle hold and with enough support from Amit Sheoran and Pawan, Rohit was relegated to the sidelines.
Vikash then tried to up the ante for Haryana Steelers with a couple of productive raids but was left with too much to do in the end.