Panchkula: The Bengaluru Bulls beat the Haryana Steelers 53-39 in the final league stage game of PKL Season 10 at the Tau Devilal indoor stadium in Panchkula on Wednesday night.
Bulls’ raider Sushil was imperious for his team registering an astounding 22 points, the difference between the teams on the day.
In a blistering first half, the Bulls were the ones who took the upper hand for the better part of the first quarter, and even inflicted the first all-out to streak into an eight-point lead.
From there, though, the Steelers slowly hit back, with their young raider Tejas Patil in particular inflicting constant damage on the Bulls defense.
The Steelers hit back with an all-out of their own to take a 16-15 lead with eight minutes of the half to go and seemed to be in control. But the topsy-turvy nature of the game meant no lead was ever safe, let alone that of a single point.
The Bulls clawed their way back, and right on the edge of time, Sushil’s super-raid meant the teams went into halftime dead even at 24 apiece.
As it was in the first half, the Bulls flew off the blocks upon the restart, and riding on Sushil’s raiding, they quickly took a small lead, which they converted into a second all-out to streak ahead 34-29.
Unlike the first half, this time they did not let their momentum slip and kept the Steelers at bay going into the final five minutes of the game.
Sushil’s constant menace gave the Bulls a six point lead to protect with five minutes of the game left. Some astute matplay meant they kept running the clock down while also shutting the door on Steelers raiders. They followed it up with another all-out with a minute to play to go into an unassailable lead, which they held all the way to a deserved victory.
