Pardeep Narwal reminded viewers why he is regarded as the “playoff king” with an 18-point performance to help the UP Yoddha’s beat Puneri Paltan 42-31 in the first eliminator of the Pro Kabaddi League season.
The Yoddhas, remarkably, were trailing the Pune team by eight points in the opening exchanges until Narwal stuck in a five-point raid to reduce the deficit. Ably supported in his raiding duties by Surender Gill, and the defensive combination of skipper Nitesh Kumar and Sumit, Narwal was picking points up at will.
Aslam Inamdar scored a Super 10 for Puneri Paltan but they lacked the usual raiding power to trouble the in-form UP defence.
Giants no match for Bulls
A collective performance led by star raider Pawan Sehrawat helped Bengaluru Bulls thrash Gujarat Giants 49-29 in the second eliminator match.
Sehrawat scored 13 points while Mahender clinched a High 5 from the cover position. The Bulls outplayed Gujarat in every department with secondary raiders Bharat and Chandran Ranjit also contributing to the points.
The Bulls will now play Dabang Delhi in the semi-final on Wednesday, while the Yoddhas will play the Patna Pirates.
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