The Tamil Thalaivas and Gujarat Giants fought neck-to-neck throughout the match as the game ended in a 31-31 tie in the Pro Kabaddi League season 9 at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
The Tamil Thalaivas had debutant Narender register a SUPER 10 while Rakesh scored 13 points for the Gujarat Giants.
The Tamil Thalaivas and Gujarat Giants were off the blocks quickly with Rakesh and Narender picking up the first points for their sides. Both teams then held strong in the defensive unit and did not take too many chances in their raids.
The Giants rode on Rakesh and Ranjit’s points and took the lead at the midway stage of the first half. The Thalaivas turned to Himanshu, Narender and Ajinkya Pawar for the impetus, while the Giants looked to build on their lead.
Rakesh and Ranjit continued to lead the charge for the Giants, while in the other corner, Sahil Gulia was outstanding in marshalling the defence for the Thalaivas. At the halfway stage, the Giants led 18-16 in what was turning out to be a spicy contest.
The Thalaivas kicked off the second half with the stellar Narender continuing to perform well before M. Abishek’s tackle gave them their first ALL OUT, and subsequently the lead. The early exchanges of the second essay was a quiet affair with the Korean Dong Geon Lee also registering his first points.
The Thalaivas were starting to up the ante after the early lull but found the Giants tough to break through. Nonetheless, Narender wasn’t perturbed and kept chipping away, who had a three-point lead with just over nine minutes to go.
Abishek was keeping strong in defence while Narender went on to get his SUPER 10 on debut and the Thalaivas were motoring along.
With just under five minutes in the game, the Giants needed to overturn a four-point lead. Rakesh suddenly went through the gears in the final minutes, picking up crucial raid points and dragging the Giants back into the game as both sides were tied 31-31 with less than a minute to go. Eventually, the teams trod carefully and settled for a 31-31 tie.
Puneri Paltan’s Aslam Inamdar came up with a fantastic performance to help his team attain a seven-point lead in the first half. But three-time champions Patna Pirates fought back through raider Sachin’s efforts in the second half and ensured that the game ended in a tie at 34-34.
Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat chipped in raids to help Puneri Paltan put their noses in front at 5-3 in the 5th minute. Patna Pirates’ defender Sunil pulled off a couple of fantastic tackles, but Puneri Paltan kept inching forward.
However, the Pirates inflicted an ALL-OUT in the 11th minute to take a three-point lead at 12-9. But, moments later, Puneri Paltan reduced Patna to two members on the mat and regained the lead at 15-13. Soon after, Puneri Paltan’s Alankar Patil tackled Rohit Gulia to carry out an ALL-OUT. The team from Pune rode on the momentum and led comfortably at 23-16 at the end of the first half.
The Pirates showed a bit more urgency in the second half. Sachin chipped in with a couple of raids as the Pirates got closer to Paltan’s score. In the 27th minute, the Patna side effected an ALL OUT and gained the lead at 26-24.
Rohit Gulia pulled off a magnificent raid to help the Pirates widen their lead. However, the Pune side fought back through raids from Akash Shinde and Aslam Inamdar and levelled the scores at 30-30.
Both sides kept winning points in tandem and were locked at 34-34 in the final minute of the match. However, the Patna Pirates and Puneri Paltan tread carefully and were satisfied with a tied result in the end.
In the other game of the night, Haryana Steelers got on the front foot and maintained their spirited performance as they got the better of the Bengal Tigers.
The team from Haryana go to second place in the standings with their opening win of the season which promises so much action already.
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