Bengaluru Bulls fight back to clinch draw against Gujarat Giants

PUNE: Gujarat Giants and Bengaluru Bulls played out an absolute thriller to kick off the Pune leg of PKL Season 11, at the Balewadi Sports Complex’s Badminton Hall on Tuesday. Both teams finished with the scores at 34-34. For the Bengaluru Bulls, Nitin Rawal bagged 7 points while Pardeep Narwal and Sushil scored 6 each. However, the Gujarat Giants, which led for most parts of the game, had Rakesh registering 7 points and Neeraj getting a High-5 as well.

The Giants got off to a quick start, with the defensive unit led by Rohit thwarting the Bulls’ early advances. However, the Bulls’ defenders too stepped up to the mat with vigour, ensuring that the Giants would not be able to run away with an early lead. After the first five minutes, the Giants were leading the battle of the defence by two points.

Soon after, the Giants’ Parteek Dahiya started to land a few quick raids, which gave it the momentum. The Bulls though weren’t backing off with Nitin Rawal, Jai Bhagwan and Parteek looking effective in their respective roles. Pardeep scored his first points after the 12 minutes, and a little later, the Bulls were on level terms with the Giants. Pardeep notched up a few more valuable raids in the final minutes of the first half, to give the Bulls the lead at the break. At half-time, the Bulls led 15-13.

Rakesh’s raids helped the Giants begin the second half strongly, after which Neeraj forced an ALL OUT on the Bengaluru Bulls. The Giants were back in the lead and were looking to grab the bull by its horns.

But as the half wore on, the Bulls kept chipping away at the lead. Jai Bhagwan and Sushil combined to reduce a five-point gap to two. Rakesh was making a big impact on the contest with a flurry of important raids, which helped the Giants keep their noses in front.

With less than a quarter of the game to go, the Giants held onto their lead, but the Bulls were doing their best to mount a comeback. Nitin Rawal was soldiering on in defence while Sushil and Jai Bhagwan were battling it out in attack, along with Pardeep for the Bulls.

As the final five minutes began, the Giants led by five points. In the final minutes, Neeraj and Nitin Rawal registered their High-5s for their respective teams. But there was more drama in store, as the teams went into the final thirty seconds with the scores tied. And it remained that way at the final whistle.