Puneri Paltan did the double over the Gujarat Giants taking a massive 34-24 victory over them in their Pro Kabaddi League match at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday. Mohammedreza Shadloui Chiyaneh’s scintillating 9 point performance was the difference between the sides on the day.
In the earlier match on Sunday, Tamil Thalaivas beat the Bengaluru Bulls 45-28.
Right from the start it seemed like Chiyaneh would dictate proceedings as a young Puneri Paltan team rallied behind him. While he ensured defensive solidity, Mohit Goyat and Aslam Inamdar wreaked havoc in attack.
Having consistently been ahead in the game they inflicted the first all out with six minutes of the half left to take a 17-8 lead. They extended that into a 13 point lead at the break.
The Gujarat Giants had logged a single tackle point in the first half, testament not just to how ineffective their defence had been also how good Goyat and Inamdar were. By any margin their performance rose in the second half and they were better than Puneri Paltan on every metric in the second 20.
But not by enough. Despite their attempts at closing the gap, the all out eluded them, and in the second half, Puneri Paltan kept the ante high, forcing the Gujarat Giants to backtrack everytime it looked like they had the game under control.
Even with the last raid of the evening, with the Puneri Paltan reduced to two, the all out did not arrive, as Chiyaneh’s super tackle gave a fitting end to his and the Puneri Paltan’s domination on the day.
Thalaivas beat Bulls
Tamil Thalaivas banked on some incredible raiding and resolute defending to clinch a 45-28 victory against Bengaluru Bulls. Narender and Ajinkya Pawar, with 14 and 11 points respectively, were excellent for Tamil Thalaivas as was their captain Sagar with 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 7 and he did not disappoint – he 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 Bengaluru Bulls defence had no tackle points to account for in the opening 15 minutes, by which time the Tamil 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 Bulls as they turned it up a notch, the highlight being a superb three-point raid from Sushil. They even had a chance to bag an all out, but Pawar rescued Tamil 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 in the limelight 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.