PKL-12: After three consecutive defeats, Telugu Titans bounce back, defeat Tamil Thalaivas by 14 points
After three consecutive defeats, Telugu Titans made a strong comeback. In the 42nd match of Pro Kabaddi League Season 12, played on Friday at the Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium, the Titans defeated Tamil Thalaivas by a margin of 43-29. This was the Titans’ fourth win in nine matches, while it marked the third defeat for Thalaivas in six matches.
The Titans’ defense (13 points) played a crucial role in the victory. Along with that, in raiding, Vijay Malik (10) and Bharat (8) delivered excellent performances. Ankit contributed with four tackles. For the Thalaivas, Arjun Deshwal (7) could not quite do justice to his talent. Kandola (6) played well, and in defense, Raunak (4) also showed some spark. With this win, the Titans climbed into the Top 4.
In the first 4 minutes, the Titans played better and took a 4-1 lead. Vijay and Bharat contributed equally. Deshwal opened the account for the Thalaivas and on a do-or-die raid got Bharat out to make the score 2-4. But in the next raid, Ankit caught him. Soon after, Bharat took out Aakash with a running hand touch. Then Kandola was dismissed, leaving Thalaivas in a super tackle situation.
The Thalaivas failed to take advantage and were reduced to just two players. The Titans then inflicted the first all-out to take a 13-4 lead. After the break, the Thalaivas scored four points against one to put the Titans in a super tackle situation. Deshwal then picked a point to reduce the Titans to two players. In the super tackle situation, Shankar caught Deshwal, and Vijay’s two-point raid saved the all-out, making the score 19-9.
Now it was the Thalaivas’ turn to go for a super tackle. By halftime, the Titans were ahead 22-10 with just one Thalaivas player left on the mat. After the break, Beniwal’s multi-point raid gave the Thalaivas a temporary lifeline, but the Titans soon inflicted another all-out to extend their lead to 26-13. After the all-in, the Titans again reduced the Thalaivas to one player, but Raunak prevented the all-out and then the defense caught Bharat for a super tackle, earning two points.
Kandola then super tackled Vijay to make the score 20-32. After Deshwal’s self-out, the Thalaivas again had a super tackle opportunity. Kandola earned two touch points to put the Titans back in a super tackle position. Chetan saved the all-out for a while, but Deshwal eventually inflicted it, making the score 28-35. After the all-in, Deshwal was caught, and then Shubham dismissed Kandola as well.
In the next raid, Prafull earned a point to make the gap 9, and then the defense caught Himanshu to seal their win. The Titans then inflicted another all-out to firmly establish their dominance.
Telugu extended their dominance right from the word go, but Tamil couldn’t respond with challenges imposed against them.
