The Tamil Thalaivas put up a masterclass to defeat Bengal Warriors 74-37 in their last match of the 2023-24 Pro Kabaddi League on Sunday.
Raiders Narender and Vishal Chahal were the star performers with 17 and 18 raid points respectively as the Thalaivas recorded the most points in a single Pro Kabaddi League match.
Additionally, the total of 111 points is the highest number of points scored in a single Pro Kabaddi game in history. The Thalaivas also recorded the most number of all outs (seven) in a match.
Narender picked up a few raid points as the Thalaivas inched ahead at 4-3 in the 4th minute. Chahal also joined the party as the side from Tamil Nadu continued to forge ahead.
Maninder Singh pulled off a couple of raid points but the Thalaivas still held the lead at 10-8 in the 9th minute. Moments later, Chahal carried out a super raid to take out Akshay Kumar, Jaskirat Singh and Shubham Shinde.
The Thalaivas rode on the momentum and inflicted an all out in the 13th minute to take a decent lead at 17-12.
Narender pulled off a super raid soon after as the Thalaivas continued to dominate the match at 22-15 in the 18th minute.
The side from Tamil Nadu a second all out to hold a massive lead at 31-18 at the end of the first half.
The Thalaivas effected another all out in the opening minutes of the second half as well and extended their lead further.
Amirhossein Bastami tackled Nitin Kumar as the Warriors were reduced to just two members on the mat. Moments later, the Thalaivas inflicted another all out and continued to dominate the match at 45-21.
The side from Tamil Nadu kept on putting pressure on their opponents for the rest of the match and eventually wrapped up a comprehensive victory.
Dabang Delhi beat Bengaluru Bulls
Later in the day, Dabang Delhi recorded a brilliant 46-38 win to take down the Bengaluru Bulls in their encounter.
Ashu Malik recorded 17 points for Delhi, which also took him to the top of the charts for successful raids in PKL Season 10, and a mere nine points behind Arjun Deshwal in raid points for the season.
Right from the start, Dabang Delhi took the lead, putting the Bulls on the ropes within the first five minutes of the game. The first all out happened within the first five minutes as they took a 12-3 lead.
From there the Bulls came together and even put together a small run of points to draw closer to the lead. In a very disciplined performance their defence stood up to the task and had logged an incredible 14 tackle points through the half.
In the final five minutes of the half they were the ones who had the momentum and soon enough Dabang Delhi were scrambling with their numbers reduced on the mat. A super tackle by Yogesh on Vikash Kandola stopped the rut as they went into the break leading 28-16.
Despite that, it didn't take long for the Bulls to inflict a first all out of their own within seconds of the restart to reduce the gap at 28-19.
Dabang hit back almost immediately Malik's super raid taking out Ponparthiban Subramanian, Saurabha Nandal and Rohit Kumar, putting them back in control of the game.
The nature of the topsy turvy contest meant that there was never any consistent momentum for either team. A few minutes after, Sushil produced a super raid of his own to take out Vishal Bhardwaj, Manu, Meetu Sharma and Balasaheb Jadhav to re-establish Bulls' control. They inflicted a second all out to draw within five points of Dabang Delhi.
Despite their brilliance, the Bulls struggled to keep Delhi, and Malik in particular, from scoring constantly and that meant that they were never really able to bridge the gap entirely.
It was evident in the last raid of the game, a super raid where Malik took out Vikash Kandola, Sushil, Surjet Singh and Ran Singh to ensure Dabang took a huge victory.