Dabang Delhi defeated Bengaluru Bulls 44-38 in the first semifinal of the night before Bengal Warriors edged past U Mumba 37-35. PKL will have a new winner.
FINAL- DABANG DELHI AND BENGAL WARRIORS WILL FACE OFF IN THE GRAND FINALE OF THE SEASON SEVEN OF THE PRO KABADDI LEAGUE.
Bengal would have been nervous to go into the big semifinal without Maninder Singh. But the defending trio of Baldev Singh, Rinku Narwal and Jeeva Kumar held fort really well and supported Sukesh Hegde and Mohammad Nabibakhsh very ably to deny U Mumba another final spot
What a night of Kabaddi we had. Pawan couldn't do today what he did all season long- to carry his team over the line single-handedly. Naveen Kumar's 'Super-10' record keeps getting better and we have a consecutive 21st 'Super-10' on the card.
BENGAL COMPLETES A THREE-PEAT ON U MUMBA THIS SEASON TO QUALIFY FOR ITS FIRST EVER FINALS.
FULL-TIME!! BENGAL WARRIORS HAS DONE IT! BENGAL WARRIORS HAS DONE IT WITHOUT MANINDER SINGH, WHICH IS WHAT MAKES THIS VICTORY TRULY SPECIAL.
37-35: DESHWAL IS TACKLED BY BALDEV SINGH AND BENGAL WINS!
36-35: JEEVA KUMAR KEEPS BENGAL'S RAID AHEAD WITH A BRILLIANT TACKLE ON JEEVA KUMAR.
35-35: ONE OF THE STRONGEST BLOCK YOU'LL SEE ALL SEASON LONG! Sandeep Narwal brings U Mumba level with a colossal solo block on Nabi. Is this heading into extra-time?
35-34: Abhishek Singh bags a bonus.
35-33: 3 MINUTES TO GO AND IT'S A TWO-POINT IN THE FAVOUR OF BENGAL.
35-33: ALL-OUT! U MUMBA IS BACK IN IT WITH, THANKS TO A GREAT DOUBLE THIGH HOLD FROM SURINDER ON SOURABH! U MUMBA HAS COME BACK IN STYLE! 12 points in the last five minutes for U Mumba, as opposed to Bengal's five. The bonus was awarded to the raider.
34-30: SUPER-10 FOR ABHISHEK SINGH! HE is met by a double thigh hold form Nabi, but the raider pushes off the defender's body, jumps and runs back to safety.
34-29: ANOTHER GIFT FROM U MUMBA! Surinder Singh with an eager tackle on Sourabh Tanaji Patil.
33-29: SUPER-RAID! IT'S AN ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE ONE! AJINKYA KAPRE WITH A TELLING BLOW ON BENGAL WARRIORS! IS THIS THE TURNING POINT OF THE MATCH? THE CROWD IS ON ITS FEET. Mayur Shivtarkar, Jeeva Kumar, Sukesh Hegde, K. Prapanjan are off to the bench.
33-25: Deshwal, now, is sent packing. The raider was too invested with getting a touch point off the left corner and he did. But he had gone in too deep and gave enough time to K. Prapanjan to come with a great dash.
32-25: FIVE MINUTES LEFT ON THE CLOCK!
32-25: One point apiece? A LOT OF CONSULTATIONS HERE! Eventually, one point each.
30-24: YOUNG CHANGO AND SURINDER COMBINE TO PIN NABIBAKHSH DOWN!
30-23: TECHNICAL POINT TO U MUMBA, COURTESY DOUBLE ENTRY FROM BENGAL'S NABIBAKHSH AND HEGDE.
30-22: RIGHT COVER, JEEVA AND A U MUMBA RAIDER! This has been the form guide of U Mumba's raids tonight. Abhishek Singh with his ninth point of the night.
30-21: NARWAL IS IN GREAT FORM TODAY! THE ONLY DEFENDER WHO HAS LOOKED HIMSELF TODAY! He dashes out K. Prapanjan with brute force.
30-20: ALL-OUT NO.2 ON U MUMBA! Last man in was Abhishek Singh and just like last time around, he gets a bonus before being timed-out.
27-19: Nabi sends Surinder Singh back to the bench and U Mumba is down to the last man again.
26-19: BONUS PLUS ONE AND U MUMBA SURVIVES! Sandeep Narwal bags a bonus before getting a touch point off Rinku Narwal.
26-17: REAL TROUBLE FOR U MUMBA! DOWN TO ONE MAN! Nabi gets Mohit Baliyan, who fails with a poor thigh hold.
25-16: SUPER-RAID! THIS IS A HUGE SUPER-RAID FROM SUKESH HEGDE! TAKE A BOW! FAZEL COMES IN FROM THE LEFT TO THE RIGHT WITH A BLOCK BEFORE SURINDER, AJINKYA AND YOUNG CHANG KO TRY AND HOLD THE RAIDER BACK. However, Hegde somehow managed to find the right amount of gap in all that chaos and gets his dangling hand past the mid-line.
21-16: THIS MINI-BATTLE BETWEEN JEEVA KUMAR AND ARJUN DESHWAL IS HEATING UPA! Jeeva is slow on the retreat and Arjun obliges. Goes for a running hand touch on the right corner and gets it.
21-15: FIFTH ALL-OUT POINT AND THAT IS JUST POOR! JUST WHEN THE TEAM LOOKED LIKE GAINING MOMENTUM, ABHISHEK SINGH STEPS OUT OF BOUNDS IN THE LEFT FLANK.
20-15: Bonus for Hegde.
19-15: NOW, NABI IS OFF TO THE BENCH Arjun Deshwal was lingering in the middle of the Bengal half and Nabi tried to catch him off-guard by coming around from the back with a thigh hold, but the raider was alert and managed to escape to safety.
19-14: Do-or-die raid for Bengal. K. Prapanjan is in to raid. He was up against four AND THIS TIME, FAZEL DOESN'T FAIL. CHARGES IN FROM THE LEFT WITH A BRILLIANT HOLD.
19-13: Do-or-die raid for U Mumba AND AJINKYA KAPRE GETS THE FAINTEST OF THE TOUCH TOUCHES ON RINKU NARWAL IN THE LEFT CORNER.
19-12: K. Prapanjan is brought down by Young Chang Ko's diving ankle hold, but the raider is able to drag his body back to safety on time.
18-12: Sukesh Hegde comes in for the first raid of the second half and he goes back without troubling the scorers.
WE ARE BACK WITH THE LAST HALF OF THE SEMIFINALS.
HALF-TIME! THIS IS THE MOST BENGAL HAS SCORED IN A SINGLE HALF AGAINST U MUMBA THIS SEASON AND WHAT AN OCCASION TO DO IT! To make it more special, the team has done it without the services of Maninder Singh. U Mumba has gifted a few points and at the end of the first half, it's the all-out that has been the difference.
18-12: Fazel is mixing it up. Sends Sandeep Narwal for the final raid of the first half. He darts left and right before ending the first half with an empty raid.
18-12: JEEVA KUMAR GETS ON BACK ON ARJUN DESHWAL! HE COMES BACK AROUND FROM THE BACK AND USED ALL HIS MIGHT TO EXECUTE A BLOCK AND THEN DASH THE RAIDER OUT!
17-12: Hegde comes back with a touch point.
16-12: THIS TIME, ABHISHEK SINGH IS HELD BACK AND BENCHED! Brilliant diving ankle hold from Rinku Narwal in the left corner. He waited for Singh to look away and the moment he did, Rinku pounced at him.
14-11: Arjun Deshwal, who hasn't been used much so far, picks off Jeeva Kumar in the right corner.
14-10: ALL-OUT ON BENGAL AND THE TEAM HAS DONE IT WITHOUT MANINDER SINGH!! This is stellar work from the Warriors! Abhishek Singh is given a bonus before he is timed-out.
11-9: MUMBA DOWN TO ONE MAN AND THAT IS SO VERY WELL DONE BY NABI! Left it late, but sent Surinder Singh back with a running hand touch.
10-9: Nabibakhsh goes in and gets an easy touch point off Mohit Baliyan, who was caught double-minded between thigh hold and a block.
9-9: IT'S ABSOLUTELY NECK-TO-NECK HERE AS ABHISHEK EVADES A TACKLE TO REVIVE ONE PLAYER.
9-8: TWO POINTS FOR SUKESH HEGDE AND U MUMBA DOWN TO TWO MEN! After the defender fails to contain the raider with a back hold, Fazel charges in with a dive. But, he overdoes it and lets Sukesh bag two points.
7-8: NOT THERE, NABI! Nabibakhsh attempts a back hold on Abhishek, but too close to the mid-line and that allows the raider to fall back to safety.
7-7: ONCE AGAIN, U MUMBA DEFENDERS TACKLE THE RAIDER SUCCESSFULLY, BUT AT THE COST OF ONE OF THE DEFENDERS STEPPING OUT OF BOUNDS BEFORE GETTING A TOUCH. Young Chang Ko was the culprit here.
6-6: Bonus point picked up by Abhishek Singh.
6-5: STRUGGLE, STRUGGLE and he is finally contained! Sandeep Narwal initiates the tackle on Nabi, who tries his best to escape, but he cannot. ONE POINT TO BENGAL AS SANDEEP NARWAL STEPS OUT OF BOUNDS BEFORE GETTING A TOUCH AGAIN.
5-4: RINKU NARWAL WITH A BRILLIANT ANKLE HOLD ON ARJUN DESHWAL IN THE LEFT COVER AND THAT'S TACKLE POINT NO. 59 FOR RINKU!
4-4: JEEVA ON THE BENCH AS ABHISHEK PICKS UP THE RIGHT COVER AGAIN! Jeeva has a 65% failed tackle rate and Mayur's stat reads 77%. So, Abhishek would look to take advantage of that and continue making merry in his strike-zone.
4-3: K. PRAPANJAN HAS ARRIVED AND WITH A BRILLIANT RUNNING HAND TOUCH ON SURINDER SINGH!
3-3: BRILLIANT BACK HOLD FROM BALDEV ON ATHUL MS IN THE RIGHT COVER. Athul does bag a bonus though.
2-2: SELF-OUT! Just before Sukesh Hegde was pinned down by a brilliant ankle hold from Sandeep Narwal, Sandeep had stepped out of bounds. U Mumba reviewd it and it was deemed UNSUCCESSFUL. U MUMBA LOSES ITS REVIEW!
1-2: Prapanjan comes in for his first raid. PHEW, THAT WAS CLOSE! He almost got Fazel there, but defender backs off right in the nick of time.
1-2: BRILLIANT DASH FROM SURINDER SINGH ON NABIBAKHSH, who is sent back after bagging a bonus.
0-1: ABHISHEK SINGH GETS A RUNNING HAND TOUCH ON MAYUR SHIVTARKAR, WHO IS IN THE RIGHT COVER. IF YOU REMEMBER, THE RIGHT COVER IS ABHISHEK'S FAVOURITE STRIKE ZONE.
0-0: Sukesh Hegde comes in for the first raid for Bengal. He also starts empty-handed.
0-0: Arjun Deshwal comes in for the first raid of the match. He starts with an empty raid.
SEMIFINAL NUMBER 2, HERE WE GO!!!
TOSS- Bengal wins the toss and U Mumba will raid first.
BIG TEAM NEWS: MANINDER SINGH, BENGAL'S BEST RAIDER WHO INJURED HIS SHOULDER AGAINST DABANG DELHI IN THE LEAGUE STAGE, WILL NOT FEATURE IN THE SEMI-FINAL.