Three-time champions Patna Pirates on Friday beat Tamil Thalaivas while the Telugu Titans recorded their first win of the Pro Kabaddi League season on the opening day of the Chennai leg.
The Thalaivas did not win but a local boy ended on the winning side as PKL debutant Sudhakar M scored 11 raid points to help the Pirates beat the Thalaivas 46-33.
The Pirates, on the back of three losses, began well and sped away to a 9-3 lead as Sachin came up with a splendid three-point super raid. The Thalaivas were down to two players and on the verge of an all out, but made a miraculous recovery to not only get more men on the mat but also inflict the all out on the Pirates in the 15h minute.
Left corner Himanshu and Iranian Amirhossein Bastami produced two massive super tackles and Himanshu Narwal completed the rout as he came off the bench to claim two multi-point raids and give the home side an 18-14 lead. However, Sudhakar struck back for the Pirates with numerous back-to-back points as they took a one-point lead into the interval at 21-20.
While the Thalaivas showed fight in the first half, the second period of play completely belonged to the Pirates. Manjeet was brought on from the bench and wreaked havoc as the Pirates bagged an all out in the 23rd minute to lead 27-21. Manjeet went on to cause more damage to the Thalaivas defence and triggered a second all out in the 31st minute as the Pirates’ lead swelled to 13 points at 37-24.
There was little the Thalaivas could do at this stage, with the score difference further widening. The local crowd could not cheer the Thalaivas to a victory but vociferously applauded when Sudhakar completed his Super 10 as the Pirates pocketed their first win in four games.
Titans secure first win of season
The Telugu Titans recorded their first win of the season by beating the Haryana Steelers 37-36 in a thrilling game. The Titans’ defenders were the real standouts on the evening registering an outstanding 18 tackle points in the game.
The teams traded points in the opening minutes before Shivam Patare’s super raid opened a gap for the Steelers over the Titans. Despite their success on the raid, the Steelers’ defence was unable to stop the Titans’ raiders from picking up points ensuring that the scoreboard remained relatively close throughout the half. The Steelers’ defence picked up a mere two tackle points the entire half.
Coincidentally it was the Steelers’ first tackle point of the evening that also set up the first all out of the evening, as they took a 16-11 lead. It had taken 15 minutes for the first all out to arrive, and within five minutes the Titans put together a brilliant defensive display to erase the deficit. With the last play of the half, the Titans inflicted an all out of their own to go into half-time trailing by one point.
The game stayed neck-to-neck for most of the second half, a misfiring Steelers defence improving from their first half meltdown but not enough to really put the Titans under pressure. The only reason they were able to stay within touch distance of the Titans was because of Patare’s brilliant raiding.
In a brilliant show of defiance, Ajit Pawar and Hamid Nader pulled off super tackles in the closing minutes to put the Titans in the lead, despite being the ones with fewer numbers on the mat. A tackle on Patare with 30 seconds left confirmed the result and Sehrawat ensured it stayed that way as the Titans got their first win of the season.
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