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The penultimate day of the Hyderabad leg started with teams from the opposite ends of the league table facing each other. Bengaluru Bulls put up a dominating performance to beat Bengal Warriors 33-22. Ajay Thakur scored 12 points to help his team close the gap down to the 2nd spot in the table.
Mahendra Rajput won the first points of the match for the Warriors in a do-or-die raid after both teams had 2 unsuccessful raids each. But, Ajay Thakur scored 2 points in the next raid to put the Bulls in the lead. Both the teams’ defenders were on top form as they restricted the opposition raiders and levelled the score at 4 a piece in the 9th minute.
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Just when it looked like it would be a night for the defenders, Ajay Thakur conjured up 2 points from his next two raids while Warriors’ captain for the day, Jang Kun Lee, scored 1 of his own in between.
The Warriors were restricted to just 1 player by the 14th minute as the scoreline read 9-6 in Bengaluru Bulls’ favour. However, Mahendra Rajput returned successfully from his raid and helped his revived teammate to tackle Ajay in the corresponding raid to level the score in the next minute.
The Bulls were not going to let go of this opportunity as they completed the all out in the 18th minute when Manjeet Chhillar tagged both the remaining Bengal Warriors defenders to take a healthy 14-9 lead. When the half-time whistle blew soon after, the Bulls were leading the Warriors 16-10.
Ajay Thakur shines
The first successful raid of the second half came after 7 minutes through Indian international, Ajay Thakur. Bengaluru Bulls extended their lead to 10 points, 23-13 in the 31st minute as the Bengal Warriors stared at yet another all out. Nilesh Shinde raided successfully and Manjeet Chhillar was caught by just 2 defenders as the Warriors postponed that for the time being.
However, they could not hold out any longer as they suffered another all out in the 35th minute when Nilesh was tackled by the Bulls defenders as the scoreline read 17-28 in Bulls’ favour. Ajay Thakur conjured up the raid of the match in the first attack after the teams’ revival as he stretched to cross the halfway line to get 3 opponents out.
The rest of the match saw both the teams exchange points as Bengaluru Bulls got another win under their belt. The Warriors continued their winless run as they suffered their 6th loss in the competition.
Man of the match: Ajay Thakur
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