PKL: Haryana Steelers slay Puneri Paltan, Telugu Titans outperform Tamil Thalaivas

The match had been billed as an encounter between the hard-tackling Pune side and the raid heavy Haryana team.

Nitin Tomar started brightly for Pune as the five-star raider produced a ‘Dubki’ to take out the experienced Dharmaraj Cheralathan and Vikas Kandola in the second minute.

Super Tackles, a big source of points in Season 7, kept the scores ticking as the match became a cagey affair towards the end of the first half. But two multi-point raids by in-form Vikas Kandola forced an All-Out on Pune and handed over the momentum to Haryana. The half ended with Haryana leading 18-11.

The Steelers came into the game after three wins in as many games and they started the second half with renewed energy. Vikas Kandola was in the thick of things once again but Haryana’s raiding duo of Vinay Kumar and Prashanth Kumar Rai were more than an able support crew to Kandola, picking up vital points whenever the star raider went out.

Haryana enforced another All-Out on Pune with less than 9 minutes left in the match to all but seal the game.

Telugu Titans outperform Tamil Thalaivas

In the second game of the night, Telugu Titans outperformed Tamil Thalaivas to clinch the match 35-30. Siddharth Desai and Vishal Bhardwaj emerged as the standout performers for the Titans. While Desai secured nine raid points, Vishal marshaled the defence and bagged six tackle points.

After enduring a crushing defeat against Bengaluru Bulls in their previous encounter, Thalaivas entered the contest with a changed line-up as youngsters Ajith Kumar and Anand found a place in the starting seven. Veteran Rahul Chaudhari, who was chasing a milestone of 900 Pro Kabaddi points, kicked off the proceedings for Thalaivas. But it was the Titans who started the match brightly, Siddharth Desai and his brother Suraj securing important raid points.

Ajith Kumar was the star for Thalaivas, picking up seven raid points in a closely contested first half, while Rahul completed his 900-point milestone in the last raid of the first half as the teams went into the break with Titans leading Thalaivas 16-12.

The Thalaivas started the second half positively, riding on Ajith Kumar’s raiding brilliance, but the error-prone defence kept leaking unnecessary points to make it difficult for the Chennai-based unit to close the gap. He also got to his Super 10 in the final minutes and ensured Thalaivas lost with a margin less than seven points.