The raider secured a Super 10 (17 raid points) as the defending champions clinched their first win at home this season against a disjointed Thalaivas unit in front of a packed audience at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
A closely contested first half saw both teams matching each other in all departments. Bulls captain Rohit Kumar started the proceedings with a classic 'Dubki' to take out Ajay Thakur and Mohit Chhillar.
At the other end, Rahul Chaudhari looked ominous for Thalaivas with his raids, despite wasting a review on a bonus point. The Bulls defenders slowly got into the game as the half progressed with Amit Sheoran and Mahender Singh stepping up their game with confidence-boosting tackles.
Manjeet Chhillar and Mohit Chhillar looked in good form too for Thalaivas despite two silly errors by the former allowing easy points for Rohit Kumar. Bulls led 14-13 at half time.
The home side upped their game in the second half with Pawan Sehrawat becoming more influential. A Super Tackle by Mohit Sehrawat in the third minute of the second half, followed by a two-point raid by Pawan opened up a 4-point lead for the Bulls.
But yet again, the team with the higher numbers could not force an All-Out, with Ajith Kumar coming in to pull off an important raid to keep Thalaivas alive. The Chennai-based unit inched closer to Bulls when Sagar and Mohit Chhillar produced two Super Tackles.
But Pawan had other plans and his multi-point raids finally led to an All-Out for Thalaivas with just four minutes remaining on the clock. The 7-point cushion the All-Out offered was all that the Bulls defence (marshalled by Amit Sheoran who secured a High 5) wanted as the defending champions saw out the final minutes to clinch an important win at home to move to the third spot in the points table.
( With inputs from IANS )