Tamil Thalaivas exhibited a stellar show in raiding and defending to crush Telugu Titans 54-29 to conclude the Hyderabad leg of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 10 at Gachibowli Indoor Stadium on Wednesday. Tamil Thalaivas silenced the strident home crowd with an impressive performance on the mat. The Thalaivas secured a well-deserved victory with an amazing defensive performance that included 24 tackle points and three Super Tackles.
Thalaivas’ star raider Ajinkya Pawar and Narender Hoshiyar continued their good form, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively, while captain Sagar added eight tackle points. Himanshu chipped in with 7 points for the Thalaivas. Titans captain Pawan Sehrawat was in the starting lineup, anticipating ‘everything fine’ between coach Srinivas Reddy and himself following their previous game’s fallout. Pawan led his team with 10 points while Ajit Pawar and Hamid Nader contributed 7 and 6 points respectively.
The home team started slowly, but quickly took the lead by grounding in form Narender to open their account. Pawan sparked the game to life with an excellent Super Raid to make it 4-3 for the Titans in the fifth minute of the game. With their numbers dwindling, the Thalaivas were struggling. However, the tables flipped soon after as Himanshu’s Super Tackle on Sehrawat kept them in the game and rebuilt their advantage.
The game was evenly balanced in the first ten minutes, with the visitors leading by one point, 7-6. However, the Titans quickly disintegrated and suffered their first All Out with six minutes remaining, trailing 11-20 at the break.
Tamil Thalaivas’ dominance continued in the second half, and if anything, they improved defensively. They inflicted a second All-Out six minutes into the game to go up 29-15 against the Titans, followed by a third All-Out inside five minutes to extend their lead to 38-18.
By the end of the game, the Thalaivas were cruising, and despite Sehrawat’s 10-point performance, the Titans could do little but save face in front of their home fans. A last Super Tackle in the final minute of the game on Sehrawat capped off an outstanding performance by the Tamil Thalaivas. The Hyderabad franchise faces a difficult road ahead, having finished the home leg with three defeats and one win, putting them at the bottom of the standings.
Earlier in the day, Dabang Delhi edged past Haryana Steelers 35-32 in a last-minute thriller. Ashu Malik starred for the Delhi franchise with 14 raid points while Siddharth Desai delivered a fighting Super 10 for the Steelers.
