PKL 2018: Tamil Thalaivas come out on top against Telugu Titans

Pune, November 26: Tamil Thalaivas upstaged Telugu Titans for the second time this VIVO Pro Kabaddi League season as they scored a 31-25 victory at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune on Monday.

It was a defensive masterclass as the game witnessed three High 5s in the form of Ponparthiban Subramanian, Manjeet Chhillar and Vishal Bhardwaj.

The game started with both teams playing on their offence as Telugu Titans established an early 5-3 lead as Rahul Chaudhari looked in supreme form, getting four points off his first four raids.

The #SouthernDerby is for @tamilthalaivas' to claim! 😎

Making merry on a Monday, they silenced the @Telugu_Titans attack to win #CHEvHYD in true Thalaivas style!

Here's how it all went down: https://t.co/ka1h1em0rS pic.twitter.com/JV4cNKKXj2

— ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) November 26, 2018

The first tackle point of the game went Telugu Titans' way as well, as Abozar Mohajermighani pulled off a thigh hold on Ajay Thakur as the scores read 7-4 in Telugu Titans' favour.

Tamil Thalaivas leveled the scores at 8-8 in the 11th minute as Sukesh Hegde got rid of Anil Kumar, Mohsen Maghsoudloujafari and Mohajermighani to register a Super Raid off his very first raid of the game. A Thakur touch on Farhad Rahimi Milaghardan then reduced Telugu Titans to a solitary player on the mat following which Anil Kumar helped Tamil Thalaivas inflict the first All-Out of the game in the 15th minute with an ankle hold on Kamal Singh.

Tamil Thalaivas went about quietly increasing their lead and established a seven-point advantage at the whistle as they led 18-11 at half-time.

Telugu Titans started the second half the better of the two sides as they got four of the first five points of the half. Chaudhari became only the second player to 750 raid points in VIVO Pro Kabaddi in the 4th minute as he got a touch on D. Pradap.

Taamil Thalaivas however didn't let Telugu Titans pull the deficit back, instead they went on chipping away at the scoreboard. Chhillar inflicted the game's first Super Tackle on Chaudhari in the 6th minute as Tamil Thalaivas led 22-15. Telugu Titans got a Super Tackle of their own 4 minutes later as a double thigh hold by Bhardwaj on Ajay Thakur gave him his first points in his comeback game.

Bhardwaj managed a second Super Tackle just two minutes later, this time a double ankle hold on Hegde, to reduce the deficit to six points. Chhillar pushed Chaudhari out of the mat in the 13th minute to complete his High 5 as the lead swelled back up to seven points. Telugu Titans looked to play on the Super Tackles and Kumar helped them inflict their 3rd Super Tackle of the game in the 15th minute as he got a thigh hold on Anand. Bhardwaj helped himself to a High 5 in the 16th minute with a challenge on Thakur as Telugu Titans brought the deficit down to four points.

Subramanian managed his first High 5 of his VIVO Pro Kabaddi career with a tackle on Nilesh Salunke in the 18th minute as Tamil Thalaivas looked to seal the game. A Chhillar block on Milaghardan with a minute to play gave Tamil Thalaivas the win as Anand sacrificed himself to a Super Tackle without attempting a point on a Do-or-Die raid. The final raid of the game saw Subramanian get an ankle-hold on C Manoj Kumar as Tamil Thalaivas won their second game against Telugu Titans this season.

(Source: PKL Media)