Vikash Kandola Stars yet again as Haryana Steelers upset Bengal Warriors

Haryana Steelers overcame a stiff Bengal Warriors challenge to beat them 36-33 in Match 60 of VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 7, played at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex on Monday.

Vikash Kandola was once again the star of the show for the Rakesh Kumar coached side as the raider pounced on every opportunity that came his way, scoring 11 points.

The high-scoring game belonged to the raiders with Vikash Kandola and Maninder securing Super 10s (awarded to raiders who get 10 or more raid points) as both defences struggled to get a stranglehold of the match.

Maninder Singh, on the back of a Super 10 in his previous outing, put the Warriors on the front foot right from the start with his positive raids. But the game’s first big moment arrived when Haryana’s Vinay produced a three-point Super Raid in the second minute to send Warriors’ defensive trio of Viraj Vishnu Landge, Jeeva Kumar and Rinku Narwal to the dugout. But the Bengal’s K Prapanjan had other plans, as he succeeded in a four-point Super Raid in the sixth minute to sway the match back in Warriors’ favour. Bengal used the momentum to inflict the first All-Out of the match on Haryana in the 11th minute. Despite the All-Out, Haryana remained in the game, thanks mostly to the raiding performances from Vikash Kandola who also reached a personal milestone of 300 raid points in Pro Kabaddi League. The high-scoring first half, which saw both defences struggling to find a successful tackle, ended with Haryana in better shape, sitting on a slender lead of one point (18-17).

Haryana got their first All-Out of the match in the second minute after restart to open up a lead but both defences continued to struggle as the raiders had a great day on the match. Vikash Kandola raced to a Super 10 in the 5th minute of second-half while Maninder got his Super 10 in the subsequent raid for the Warriors. The Bengal raider also crossed 500 points in Pro Kabaddi as the Warriors reduced the Haryana men on the court to two. But the experienced Dharmaraj Cheralathan produced a mighty Super Tackle with less than 6 minutes in the clock to prevent what had looked a certain All-Out. The 44-year-old Kabaddi stalwart steadied the defence in the dying minutes of the match to secure an important win for the Steelers. The win, Steelers’ fifth in six matches, pushed the Haryana team to fifth in the table.

Top Performers of the Match
Top Raider- Maninder Singh: 15 points
Top Defender- Dharmaraj Cheralathan: 4 points

Starting Sevens
Bengal Warriors- Maninder Singh, K Prapanjan, Jeeva Kumar, Esmaeil Nabibakhsh, Rinku Narwal, Baldev Singh, Viraj Landge
Haryana Steelers- Vikash Kandola, Vinay, Dharmaraj Cheralathan, Prashanth Kumar Rai, Vikas Kale, Ravi Kumar, Sunil

Bengal Warriors vs Haryana Steelers Overall Scorecard
Bengal Warriors:
Maninder Singh- 15 points
K Prapanjan- 7 points
Jeeva Kumar- 3 points
Rinku Narwal- 1 point
Esmaeil Nabibakhsh- 3 points
Baldev Singh- 0 points
Viraj Landge- 0 points

Substitutes:
Adarsh T- 0 points
Mohammad Taghi Mahali- 0 points

Haryana Steelers:
Vikash Kandola- 11 points
Vinay- 9 points
Dharmaraj Cheralathan- 4 points
Prashanth Kumar Rai- 3 points
Vikas Kale- 2 points
Ravi Kumar- 1 point
Sunil- 0 points

Substitutes:
Chand Singh- 1 point