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A dramatic finish saw the Telugu Titans close out the Hyderabad leg with a well-deserved 34-33 win over Puneri Paltan at the GMCB Indoor Stadium on Saturday. In what was their fourth-straight win of season 11, the Telugu Titans were guided by their skipper Pawan Sehrawat’s 12 points, and Vijay Malik’s 13 points, which eventually took the home team to second on the points table.
Telugu Titans edge Puneri Paltan to sign off PKL 2024's Hyderabad leg
A match which saw the raiders ruling the roost, Pankaj Mohite for the Puneri Paltan secured the first Super Raid of the game. Soon after, Mohit Goyat completed a Super Tackle as well, as the defending champions took an early lead. This form continued throughout the first 10 minutes, as Sanket Sawant’s tackle on Vijay Malik inflicted an ALL OUT on the home team Telugu Titans.
Despite this, the Telugu Titans had Pawan Sehrawat in his usual raiding form, and he ensured that his team were in the game. The hi-flyer completed his Super 10 – his sixth of the season – with four minutes left in the second half. This helped his team take the lead and also inflicted the ALL OUT on Puneri Paltan. A riveting first half saw the score level at 20-20 at the end.
As both sides exchanged the lead between themselves, they were cautious about their performance in the second half. For Puneri Paltan, Pankaj Mohite was their main aggressor yet again, but he was supported by the likes of fellow raider Mohit Goyat and defender Abinesh Nadarajan. However, Pawan’s magnificent moves kept the Telugu Titans afloat throughout the second 20 minutes of the match.
With the match entering a very important stage, the Telugu Titans, who had the lead, were inflicted with an ALL OUT with little over two minutes left to the end of the match. Vijay Malik was the second Telugu Titans player to score a Super 10, but at the end, defender Ajit Pawar got Ajith Kumar off the mat, to give the home side a one-point lead, which was enough to seal the victory.
Bengal Warriorz notch emphatic win over Bengaluru Bulls
The Bengal Warriorz put on a clinical display to defeat the Bengaluru Bulls 40-29 at the GMCB Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday. The final match of the Hyderabad leg was dominated by an exceptional raiding performance from the duo of Nitin Kumar and Maninder Singh, who scored 14 and 10 points respectively.
The Bengal Warriorz took a three-point lead heading into the halftime break, largely thanks to the outstanding raiding performance of Maninder Singh, who accumulated 8 points. The mighty raider was particularly effective for the Bengal Warriorz in the latter stages of the half, securing multiple successful raids, including a crucial two-point raid that sent both Nitin Rawal and Pardeep Narwal to the bench.
For the Bengaluru Bulls, their points were fairly well distributed across their raiders, with Akshit leading their scoring with 4 points, followed by Ajinkya Pawar with 3 points. Pardeep Narwal had a quiet half with just 2 points before being substituted for Lucky Kumar. The score eventually read 15-12 in favour of the Bengal Warriorz.
At the start of the second half, Maninder completed his Super 10 with a two-point raid to get Nitin Rawal and Ajinkya Pawar, also inflicting the first ALL OUT on the Bengaluru Bulls. For the Bengaluru Bulls, Akshit scored three quick successful raids to put pressure on the Bengal Warriorz's defence.
Nitin Kumar was particularly devastating, executing a crucial Super Raid that turned the momentum firmly in the Bengal Warriorz's favour. This proved to be a pivotal moment as the Bengal Warriorz took control of the match. The Bengaluru Bulls tried to respond through Akshit, but their efforts were thwarted when he was tackled by Fazel Atrachali, resulting in another ALL OUT.
The Bengaluru Bulls attempted to stay in the contest through Ajinkya Pawar, who managed some successful raids in the middle phase. Despite late efforts from the Bengaluru Bulls, they couldn't bridge the gap as the Bengal Warriorz closed out an impressive victory.
