Hyderabad: Tamil Thalaivas relied on some incredible raiding and resolute defending to clinch a 45-28 victory over Bengaluru Bulls in the Pro Kabaddi League match here on Sunday.
Narender and Ajinkya Pawar, with 14 and 11 points respectively, were excellent for Tamil Thalaivas as was their captain Sagar, who grabbed five tackle points.
Bengaluru Bulls’ Akshit also had a superb game as he finished with 12 raid points.
It was a contest between two evenly matched sides with very little margin for error. Akshit’s fine show in the previous game earned him a spot in the starting seven and he did not disappoint.
Akshit picked up seven points in the first 10 minutes, which were, incidentally, the only points Bengaluru Bulls had at 7-10. The raiders dominated the opening phase as Narender and Ajinkya Pawar kept the scorecard ticking for the Tamil Nadu team.
The Bulls defence had no tackle points to account for in the opening 15 minutes, by which time the Thalaivas had inflicted the first ALL OUT. It was the two raiders who got the job done as Narender and Ajinkya led their team to an 18-9 lead.
That served as a wakeup call for the Bengaluru side as they turned it up a notch, the highlight being a superb 3-point raid from Sushil. They even had a chance to bag an ALL OUT, but Ajinkya rescued the Thalaivas and led them to a healthy 25-14 lead at half-time.
Akshit continued to excel for the Bengaluru Bulls as he got the better of Himanshu to bring up his first Super 10 of the season, which was soon followed by an ALL OUT for his side. With 11 minutes to go, the scoreline read 31-23 in Tamil Thalaivas’ favour.
It was then Narender’s turn to shine as he produced two fantastic multi-point raids to swiftly earn an ALL OUT for his side. Along the way, he completed a Super 10 and his team led by 14 points with less than five minutes to go.
With about three minutes left, Tamil Thalaivas captain Sagar launched into a huge tackle on Sushil to bag a High 5 and become the first defender to reach 50 tackle points this season.
There was more reason to celebrate for Tamil Thalaivas as Sahil Gulia also crossed the 50 tackle points mark and the team closed out a comprehensive 17-point win.
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