The Bengal Warriors decimated the hosts Bengaluru Bulls by a 44-37 margin as the Bulls finished their home leg with a loss at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune.
At the halfway stage, the Bulls enjoyed a 19-12 lead until the Warriors took a leaf out of Pune's book as they staged a fantastic comeback, inflicting a series of all-outs on the Bulls to take a massive lead halfway into the final half.
Maninder Singh hogged all the limelight and rightly so as he blazed his way through the game with 17 raid points, his best ever performance in the league and was also ably assisted by Ravindra Kumawat, who also picked up eight points from the game. For the Bulls, Harish Naik made the most use of the start given to him as he led the way with some crucial bonus points to finish with nine points, while Rohit Kumar also finished on top of the charts for the Bulls win nine points.
With the win, the Warriors now are only a point adrift of the Pirates, who are in second place with 43 points from 14 matches while the Warriors have 42 from 13 matches. Meanwhile, the Bulls picked up a single point and continue to sit pretty at the top of the table with 10 wins from 16 matches.
Here are the player ratings from this game.
Bengal Warriors
Surjeet Singh - 7/10
The Bengal skipper was often the target for Pawan Sehrawat but the former got the better of his nemesis a little late into the first half and picked another point through a dash on Rohit Kumar. In the end, he finished with four points from nine tackles.
Maninder Singh - 9.5/10
The pacy raider looked slighty off color as he picked just four points in the first half and was kept quiet by the Bulls defenders but he made a fantastic comeback in the second half as he wiped out the Bulls' defenders on two occasions to finish with a whopping 17 raid points.
Ravindra Ramesh Kumawat - 8.5/10
Kumawat was in good touch on the raiding front as he lured tackles from Raju Lal to pick three points and essayed the role of a support raider to terrific effect as his seven raid points added extra pressure on the Bulls defenders.
Mahesh Goud - 7/10
Mahesh came into the game as the secondary raider and did well in the first half to pick three points but failed to pick any point in the second half.
Ran Singh - 7/10
Ran Singh's useful contribution in the first half came through a running hand touch on Rohit Kumar to reduce the Bulls to two men on the mat while in the second half, his blocks came to the fore as he finished with three tackle points.
Vijin Thangadurai - 4.5/10
The cover defender did not make any tackles in the opening half but was a good support defender as the Warriors defense found its feet in the second half.
Baldev Singh - 4/10
Young Baldev Singh was a certain weak link in the left corner as his advance tackles and blocks gave the Bulls some early momentum in the game.
Substitutes
Amit Nagar - 4/10
Amit came in for just the one raid and was brought down by a firm ankle hold by Raju Lal Choudary.
Bengaluru Bulls
Rohit Kumar - 7.5/10
The Bulls skipper kept the scoreboard ticking with some clinical touch points but still appeared unsettled as he finished with just nine raid points from 15 raids.
Harish Naik - 9/10
The youngster made optimum use of the start awarded to him as he picked up nine raid points and ensured that the Bulls scorecard kept moving with consistent bonus points.
Pawan Sehrawat - 6.5/10
The youngster could not bring out his roaring form as he picked just seven raid points but earned some brownie points as he consistently had the number of the Warriors' best defender in Surjeet Singh.
Ashish Sangwan - 6/10
The all-rounder pulled off a top raid as he collected a bonus and a touch point to prevent an all-out inflicted on his team but in the Warriors' next raid, gifted away an easy touch point to Kumawat. From seven tackles, Ashish picked just two points.
Raju Lal Choudary - 5/10
The right corner put in a number of hasty tackles that did not help his cause as the Warriors' raiders had an easy outing in his corner.
Amit Sheoran - 4.5/10
Similar to his co-corner, Amit Sheoran was not in the best of touch as he gifted away some crucial points to Maninder Singh and finished with just two points from seven tackles.
Mahender Singh - 4/10
Young Mahender Singh failed to get his name on the scoreboard on a day when the Warriors' raiders ran riot but made some useful assists in the game.
Substitutes
Sumit Singh - 6/10
Sumit was subbed on as the lone man on the mat but upon picking the bonus, was quickly brought down by the defense.
Nitesh BR - 4/10
Nitesh replaced Raju Lal on the right corner but had no contribution to make in the game.