Ajay Thakur scored five points in the last minute to lead Tamil Thalaivas to a narrow 34-33 victory over UP Yoddha in a thrilling Pro Kabaddi League match in Sonepat on Wednesday.
It was Thalaivas’ second victory of the season and UP Yoddha were left to rue their errors.
Thalaivas were second best for most of the match but came up the goods at critical moments of the match. Nitin Tomar scored 14 points for UP Yoddha but his effort went in vain.
Despite the win, Tamil Thalaivas remain rooted at the bottom of Zone B table with 21 points from 10 games. UP Yoddha are second with 37 points from 14 games.
Nitin Tomar got UP Yoddha to a flying start as he scored with a two-point raid in the first minute. Tomar scored two more points as UP Yoddha asserted their dominance to lead 6-0 after three minutes.
Tamil Thalaivas were reeling under the Yoddha onslaught and suffered an all-out to trail 1-9 in the fourth minute.
Ajay Thakur and Prapanjan scored raid points in the next two minutes as Thalaivas trailed 3-9. Prapanjan came up with a super raid in the 12th minute as Thalaivas reduced the gap to five points.
Nitin Tomar scored two more raid points in the 19th minute as UP Yoddha went into the break leading 18-12.
Tamil Thalaivas began the second half brightly as they inflicted an all-out in the 21st minute to trail 16-20. The next few minutes saw both teams trade raid and tackle points as it was 23-20 in favour of Yoddha in the 29th minute.
The UP Yoddha defence sent back Ajay Thakur to the bench in the 33rd minute as Nitesh Kumar achieved a high five and UP Yoddha led 26-21. With less than five minutes left on the clock, Tamil Thalaivas trailed 23-26. Prapanjan scored with a two-point raid in the 37th minute as Thalaivas trailed 25-26.
Tamil Thalaivas forced an all-out in the 38th minute to lead 29-28. Nitin Tomar came up with a super raid in the 38th minute to tilt the balance in Yoddhas favour as they led 31- 29. Ajay Thakur scored a raid point in the 39th minute as Tamil Thalaivas trailed 30-31.
Ajay Thakur came up with a brilliant moment as he scored a super raid in the 40th minute to give Thalaivas 33-31 lead. Thakur scored another raid point in the dying seconds to lead his team to a 34-33 victory.
Puneri Paltan cruise against Haryana Steelers
In the other match of the day, Puneri Paltan cruised to a 38-22 win against Haryana Steelers, thanks to a great performance from Deepak Hooda who finished with 13 raid points.
The Paltan took an early 11-1 lead and went into half-time at 18-6. Despite an attempted comeback by the Steelers, the Paltan were far too ahead as they held on to secure an easy win.
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