Tamil Thalaivas produced an all-round performance to beat Telugu Titans 27-23 in the southern derby of Pro Kabaddi League in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. This was Tamil Thalaivas first win over Telugu Titans in PKL.
Ajay Thakur scored eight points for Tamil Thalaivas and Manjeet Chhillar chipped in with three crucial tackle points. Rahul Chaudhari scored eight points but it was Telugu Titans defence that let them down as they scored just seven tackle points in the match.
Sukesh Hegde made a two-point raid in the first minute to give Tamil Thalaivas 2-0 lead. Chaudhari opened his account in the second minute as Telugu Titans leveled the match at 2-2.
After five minutes both the teams were tied at 4-4 but a super tackle by Tamil Thalaivas tilted the balance in their favour as they went on a four-point run to lead 8-4. The Titans defence got into the act with two quick tackle points to reduce the lead to 6-8.
Thakur’s successful raid in the 15th minute led to an all out on Tamil Thalaivas as the Titans led 13-6. Thakur had a strong first half as he scored six raid points. At the end of the first half, Tamil Thalaivas led 18-10. Both the teams tightened up their defence in the second half with tackle points coming thick and fast.
After 25 minutes, Tamil Thalaivas led 20-15. A tackle point each in the 28th minute meant that Tamil Thalaivas held a five-point advantage. Telugu Titans made many attempts to mount a comeback but Tamil Thalaivas held on their lead.
Chaudhari’s successful raid in the 35th minute gave Titans their 20th point of the match as they trailed 20-25. A mistake by Abozar Mighani in the 37th minute gave Tamil Thalaivas 26-21 lead.
Chaudhari missed a do-or-die raid in the 39th minute and with that all hopes for Telugu Titans evaporated.
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