UP Yoddhas went down narrowly 36-38 to Bengaluru Bulls in a thrilling encounter in the Pro Kabaddi League. Captain Pardeep Narwal continued his superb form, making history by becoming the first player to surpass the 1600 raid points milestone in the history of PKL.
Pardeep Narwal earned the highest points from the game, totaling 13, while Surender Gill and Vijay Malik, earned 8 and 6 points, respectively, for their side. Currently, UP Yoddhas stand third in the league standings with 12 points and a score difference of 40 points, the highest among all teams in the tenth season of the PKL so far.
UP Yoddhas will now face Bengal Warriors in Pune on 18th December 2023. After winning the toss, UP Yoddhas invited the hosts Bengaluru Bulls for the opening raid, and the Yoddhas made full use of this opportunity. Surender Gill opened the scoreboard with a bonus, and yet it was Dubki King, Pardeep Narwal, who, with his excellence, executed an early Super raid, his first of the season, around the third minute, making the score 4-1 in favor of the Yoddhas.
However, some unforced errors by UP Yoddhas allowed the hosts to stage a comeback. Not only did they erase the 5-point lead the Yoddhas had, but they also inflicted an All-Out in the eighth minute of the game, with the scorecard reading 13-8 in favor of the Bulls. From here on, both sides displayed a neck-and-neck fight, with the Bengaluru Bulls maintaining their lead with 21-14 score by the end of the first half.
The second half began with Gurdeep and Vijay of UP Yoddhas executing a sublime Super tackle, gaining momentum in the game. Within the next few minutes, UP Yoddhas managed to reduce their deficit to just 4 points in the seventh minute of the second half, with the scorecard reading 19-23, still in favor of the hosts.
However, Bengaluru Bulls capitalized on unforced errors by UP Yoddhas, inflicting another All-Out on their opponents and racing ahead with a score of 29-21 by the tenth minute of the second half. The game didn’t end there as UP Yoddhas turned the tables in the final minutes of the game, inflicting their first All-Out and reducing the deficit to just two points, with the score at 34-36 and only 40 seconds left on the clock. However, Bengaluru Bulls made no mistakes, and the hosts walked away with a thrilling victory, with the final score reading 38-36.