Bengaluru Bulls and Telugu Titans battled it out at the semi-finals in NSCI Stadium, Mumbai, on Friday. The scoreline read 39-38 in the Bulls' favour following the match, paving the way for the Bangalore side to make it to their first final of the Pro Kabaddi League.
Manjeet Chhillar remained the man of the moment for the Bengaluru Bulls, along with Dharmaraj Cheralathan, who scored 9 points.
Dharmaraj is also incidentally the oldest player in the league.
Telugu Titans, who were deemed as favourites going into the game, were almost succumbing to a wide margin loss in the match. However, Titans star raider Rahul Chaudhary gave his side a late hope as he picked up 6 points in his last 5 raids.
But, that just wasn't enough for the Hyderabad side.
The score was 16-10 in favour of the Bengaluru side in the half time.
For Bengaluru Bulls, the defensive work rate of Dharmaraj and the successful raids by Manjeet were the highlights of the game. The performance of Ajay Thakur, adjudged the Best Raider of Friday's match, also caught the eye of teh spectators.
Telugu Titans captain Meraj Sheykh didn't have a memorable outing at all in the match, which mattered the most. He looked to have been limping after a heavy tackle on him during the game, and that seemed to take away the usual braveheart display the Iranian is known for.
The exceptional raids conducted by Ajay and Manjeet gave the Bulls a massive 31-15 lead with just ten minutes remaining on the clock.
Whatever comeback the Titans made thereon, it was all down to the solo effort of Chaudhary and youngster Sandeep Kandola.
But, luck was with Manjeet and Co on the day. The Titans skipper earned 4 raid points and a bonus as he led his side with élan on the day to help them progress to the final of the Pro Kabaddi League, where they will face U Mumba on 23 August.
The Telugu Titans now face Patna Pirates for the third place, also on Sunday.
