PKL 2018-19: Bengaluru Bulls comes from behind to beat UP Yoddha 35-29
Saurabh Kumar
Greater Noida (04/11/18) : U.P. Yoddha – The GMR Group owned UP franchise of the Vivo-Pro Kabaddi League today lost to Bengaluru Bulls 29-35 after putting up a brave fight. U.P. Yoddha now face Bengal Warriors tomorrow, 4th November 2018, 9 PM onwards at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex, Greater Noida.
The Yoddha’s began the match on a very positive note today. Showcasing strong offence and defense the home team earned points in quick succession to earn a 4-0 lead in the first 3 minutes. Bengaluru Bulls however opened their account with a Super-Tackle over U.P. Yoddha’s star performer Prashant Rai. Amit Sheoran of Bengaluru Bulls was green carded as the visitors rallied back to reduce the lead to 7-6 before equalizing to 7-7. 
However, Prashant was quick to put the Yoddha’s back into the lead through his raid followed by a quick tackle on the raid of Pawan Kumar of the Bulls. The high-intensity game in the first half continued till Bengaluru Bulls were ‘All Out’ in the 16th min and the home team gained 3 crucial points to extend their lead to 16-14. Shrikant and Prashant dominated the raids for UP Yoddha as they went into half-time with a 5 point lead at 20-15.
Following up on their dominating first half, the Yoddha’s returned in the second half with a spirited start increasing their lead through a tackle to 21-15. However the Bulls made an impressive comeback to reduce their point deficit to 22-20, still favouring U.P. Yoddha. In the 7th minute of the second half, Yoddha’s conceded an easy point when Nitesh Kumar was unable to stay within the mat. Half way into the second half, the scores were level par before the Yoddha’s were ‘All Out’ for the first time in the game resulting in the opponent taking a lead of 29-25 in the game.
With 7mins left in the second half, Coach Jasvir Singh introduced their marquee raider-captain Rishank Devadiga in the game, but unfortunately he could not ensure a lead for the home team. With a min and half left to play, U.P. Yoddha called for a review, which was given in their favour taking the score to 29-35 in favour of Bengaluru Bulls. The match came to an end with U.P. Yoddha losing to Bengaluru Bulls 29-35.
Prashant Kumar Rai from the U.P. Yoddha was the top Raider winning 7 points from 17 raid attempts while Sachin Kumar was the top defender earning 4 points from 8 attempted tackles.
While in the first match U Mumbai’s defender starred in their 1st win of the season over Puneri Paltan as they won by a 31-22 scoreline at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida on Saturday. Puneri Paltan managed five Super Tackles in the game but it wasn’t enough as U Mumbai levelled their season head-to-head at the end of their three matches for the season.
The crowd was amazing and full of energy and keep on cheering for their home team.
