The Tamil Thalaivas and Gujarat Giants on Sunday notched up contrasting wins in their respective Pro Kabaddi League matches in Ahmedabad.
The Thalaivas rode on star raider Ajinkya Pawar’s 21-point haul to beat Dabang Delhi KC 42-31 while the Giants secured a 34-31 win over the Bengaluru Bulls.
The contest started off with both Tamil Thalaivas and Dabang Delhi being watchful in the early minutes. The early exchanges saw both teams bag a couple of points each, with Pawar and Naveen Kumar getting their team off the mark.
Neither side were ready to blink first, and the Tamil Thalaivas were looking very strong at the back. The trend continued well into the second phase of the first half, as the Thalaivas and Dabang Delhi did not allow the opposition get a sizeable lead.
Pawar and Sahil Gulia took charge for the Tamil Thalaivas, while Naveen and Malik were pushing the envelope for Dabang Delhi. With the first half nearing the end, the Tamil Thalaivas landed an all out on Manjeet, and stormed into the lead.
Dabang Delhi, however, went through the gears quickly, with Naveen registering a super raid. At half-time, the Tamil Thalaivas were four points ahead, with the contest well and truly on a knife edge.
Dabang Delhi needed to up the ante in the second half, and they gave it their all after the breather. Nonetheless, the Tamil Thalaivas were on a roll. Pawar registered his super 10, and was ably aided by Narender and Himanshu, which helped them stretch the lead to a six-point one, early in the second half. At this point, the Tamil Thalaivas were looking to build on their lead, and Pawar was marching on towards a 20-point haul.
In the final ten minutes, the game swung in favour of the Tamil Thalaivas, who were on fire in all departments on the day. Eventually, the men in yellow, the Tamil Thalaivas stormed over the line, winning the contest with relative ease.
Giants edge past Bulls
The Gujarat Giants played out a nail-biting match against Bengaluru Bulls to secure their second win of the season. Both sides kept trading the lead throughout the game until the Giants managed to clinch the lead in the last couple of minutes. Sonu emerged as the best player for the Giants once again with 12 points in the match.
Neeraj Narwal pulled off a magnificent raid in the opening minute of the game as the Bulls took the lead at 3-0. Moments later, Bharat backed up his compatriot and reduced the Giants to just two members on the mat. However, Mohammad Nabibakhsh pulled off a super tackle and helped the Giants stay in the contest in the fifth minute. Sonu picked up two raid points soon after as the Giants levelled the scores at 5-5.
Thereafter, the Giants and the Bulls fought a neck-to-neck battle as the scores were levelled at 9-9 in the 11th minute. But, Vikash Kandola pulled off a magnificent raid to reduce the Giants to just one member on the mat. Moments later, the Bulls tackled Parteek Dahiya and inflicted an all out to take a decent lead at 14-11. The Bulls’ defence unit continued to shine and helped its team race away with a big lead at 20-14 by the end of the first half.
Sonu effected a super raid in the opening minutes of the second half and reduced the gap between the two sides. Moments later, the Giants tackled Bharat and inched closer to the Bulls’ score.
However, Vishal tackled Nabibakhsh and helped the Bulls extend their lead in the 25th minute. But, the Giants continued to fight and took the lead at 24-23 after inflicting an all out in the 27th minute. Kandola effected a fantastic raid in the 31st minute, but the Giants still held the lead at 26-24.
However, Bharat effected a raid and Neeraj Narwal picked up a tackle point to help the Bulls reclaim the lead at 28-27 in the 36th minute. But Rakesh pulled off a brilliant raid and tackled Bharat to help the Giants take the lead at 32-30 in the 39th minute. The home side played its cards perfectly in the final seconds of the game and walked off the mat as winners of the game.