PKL-12: Another explosive performance from Devank Dalal, but Bengal Warriors fail to avenge previous loss against Puneri Paltan

Despite another explosive performance from captain Devank Dalal (25 points), Bengal Warriors had to face a 5-point defeat against Puneri Paltan in the 56th match of Season 12 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), played on Tuesday at the SDAT Multi-Purpose Indoor Stadium. Riding on Aditya Shinde’s 18 points, Puneri defeated Bengal 49-44. This was Puneri’s second consecutive win over Bengal this season.

For the winning side Puneri Paltan, apart from Aditya Shinde’s 18 points, Pankaj Mohit contributed 10 points and captain Aslam Inamdar added seven. For Bengal, Devank scored 25 points – the best performance by any raider this season. Himanshu Narwal chipped in with seven points.

This was Puneri Paltan’s seventh win in 10 matches, taking their tally to 14 points, and they continue to remain in second place on the points table. Bengal Warriors, meanwhile, suffered their sixth defeat in nine matches and are still stuck at 10th position.

Bengal Warriors, who came in looking to take revenge against Puneri, started off with a super raid. But Puneri led 6-3 in the first five minutes. Bengal tried to fight back, but in the first 10 minutes Devank Dalal hadn’t scored a single point, leaving Bengal trailing by two.

In the 12th minute, Puneri inflicted an all-out on Bengal and stretched the lead to 15-9. With the support of Aslam and Pankaj’s combination play, Puneri were ahead by five points till the 15th minute.

The good news for Bengal was that Devank slowly started getting into rhythm and the team began to claw back. However, at halftime Puneri still led 21-18.

In the second half, Puneri super-tackled Devank to add two more points to their tally. Puneri now faced the challenge of avoiding an all-out. In the 24th minute, Aditya Shinde saved Puneri from an all-out twice, helping extend the score to 28-22.

However, three minutes later Bengal Warriors inflicted an all-out on Puneri, reducing the margin to just three points. By this time, both Devank for Bengal and Aditya for Puneri had completed their Super 10s. Pankaj Mohit then pulled off another super raid, giving his team three crucial points as Puneri stayed ahead 33-29 by the 30th minute.

In the final 10 minutes, Aslam’s Puneri side tightened their grip on the match. In the 34th minute, Aditya Shinde produced another three-point super raid to give Puneri a nine-point lead. The very next minute, Puneri inflicted another all-out on Bengal, stretching the scoreline to 46-35.

By the 38th minute, Puneri had a commanding 47-38 lead. Although Devank kept picking up points in the closing stages, Bengal continued to trail. In the end, Puneri Paltan sealed a convincing 49-44 victory, their second win over Bengal Warriors this season.