Tamil Thalaivas produced a solid all-around performance to beat Telugu Titans 27-23 in the southern derby of Pro Kabaddi Season 6 at The Arena by Transstadia on Tuesday.
This was Tamil Thalaivas first win over Telugu Titans in the Pro Kabaddi League.
Ajay Thakur scored 8 points for Tamil Thalaivas and Manjeet Chhillar chipped in with three crucial tackle points. Rahul Chaudhari scored 8 points but it was Telugu Titans defence that let them down as they scored just seven tackle points in the match.
Sukesh Hegde made a two-point raid in the first minute to give Tamil Thalaivas a 2-0 lead before Rahul squared it up for the Telugu Titans 2-2.
After five minutes both teams were tied at 4-4 but a super tackle by Tamil Thalaivas tilted the balance in their favour as they went on a four-point run to lead 8-4.
The Titans defence got into the act with two quick tackle points to reduce the lead to 6-8. Ajay Thakur's successful raid in the 15th minute led to an all-out on Tamil Thalivas as the Titans led 13-6.
Thakur had a strong first half as he scored six raid points.
At the end of the first half, the Tamil Thalaivas led 18-10.
Coming back, both teams tightened up their defence with tackle points coming thick and fast. After 25 minutes, Tamil Thalaivas led 20-15.
A tackle point each in the 28th minute meant that Tamil Thalaivas held a five-point advantage.
The Titans made many attempts to mount a comeback but Tamil Thalaivas held strong. Rahul's successful raid in the 35th minute gave
Titans their 20th point of the match as they trailed 20-25.
A mistake by Abozar Mighani in the 37th minute gave Tamil Thalaivas a 26-21 lead. Rahul missed a do-or-die raid in the 39th minute and with that, all hopes for Telugu Titans evaporated.
Two points in the last minute weren't enough as Titans eventually lost 23-27.