PKL 2018, Qualifier 1, Gujarat Fortune Giants vs Bengaluru Bulls: Pawan's Super 10 propels Bengaluru to the PKL final
The Pro Kabaddi League 2018 playoffs continued on at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi as the first qualifier saw the Gujarat Fortune Giants take on the Bengaluru Bulls. The two table toppers from their respective zones clashed for a place in the finals to be held in Mumbai later this week.
Gujarat Fortune Giants came into this match on the back of a reassuring win over the Patna Pirates where they fielded most of their bench players and rested their key raiding stars. The Gujarat defense has been one of the most stable forces this season and backed themselves to come out on top against the Bengaluru Bulls' raiding unit.
Bengaluru Bulls' raiding unit was led by the skipper Rohit Kumar and Pawan Kumar Sehrawat, the league' top scoring raider so far. They secured their top spot in Zone B on the final day of the Kolkata leg and aimed to utilize their raiding strength to overcome the defensive capabilities of the Gujarat Fortune Giants. They made a few changes in their defensive setup bringing in Ankit and Ajay in place of Ashish Sangwan and Raju Lal Choudhary.
Bengaluru Bulls pulled off a strong all-around performance as they staved off the challenge from the Gujarat Fortune Giants' raiders to turn around the first half deficit. Bengaluru Bulls were highly effective in the second half as Pawan Kumar Sehrawat pulled off two Super Raids to trigger all-outs on the Gujarat side. Rohit Kumar and Mahender Singh got High 5s in the second half to keep the Gujarat raiders in check.
Bengaluru Bulls ended up winning 41-29 to become the first side to enter the finals of this year's Pro Kabaddi League.
Gujarat Fortune Giants
Sunil Kumar - (2/10)
The Gujarat Fortune Giants' skipper was targeted on multiple occasions by the Bengaluru Bulls' raiders and had no tackle points in the entire match.
Parvesh Bhainswal - (3/10)
The top scoring defender of the Gujarat side also had a slow start in the first half and made a couple of hasty tackles. He finished with one tackle point from five tackle attempts tonight.
Ruturaj Koravi - (4/10)
The right corner was guilty of putting in hasty tackles with his body hold attempts and conceded three touch points in the first half of the match. He had two tackle points from a total of seven attempted tackles tonight.
Sachin Vittala - (2/10)
Sachin Vittala operated on the left corner for the Fortune Giants but was ineffective tonight and was replaced by Hadi Oshtorak towards the end of the first half.
Rohit Gulia - (4/10)
The all-rounder was used as the third raider by the Gujarat side and scored a couple of raid points in the first half but had a lot of empty raids. He finished with three points on the night.
Sachin Tanwar - (7/10)
The star raider was in fine form throughout the match chipping in points with his running hand touches and had seven raid points in the first half. He kept the momentum going in the second period and scored a Super 10 tonight.
K Prapanjan - (6/10)
The raider played the perfect second fiddle role to Sachin Tanwar picking up points in crucial situations. He had five raid points in the match tonight.
Substitutes:
Hadi Oshtorak - (6/10)
The Iranian defender replaced Sachin Vittala on the left corner of the Gujarat defense and made an immediate impact with his ankle holds scoring three tackles. He added two raid points as well in the second half.
Lalit Chaudhary and Dharmender
While they too came in as substitutes but couldn't leave much of an impression on the match.