Led by Pawan Sehrawat’s 12 points and contributions from Ashish Narwal and Vijay Malik, the Telugu Titans managed to get their third consecutive win of the season after overcoming a nail-biting contest against the Tamil Thalaivas in the Southern Derby in Season 11 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) here on Wednesday.
With Sehrawat leading from the front, Telugu Titans got over the line despite Sachin Tanwar scoring a mammoth 17 points for the Tamil Thalaivas at the GMCB Indoor Stadium.
It was a watchful start from both sides as Ashish Narwal and Narender Kandola exchanged early blows to get the ball rolling. That was until the most expensive player in PKL history and the most expensive player in the auction this year took centre stage. After a tight start, it was the high-flying Pawan Sehrawat who sprang into action to inflict an All Out on the Tamil Thalaivas, giving the Telugu Titans a four-point lead.
Sachin Tanwar didn’t waste much time to make his presence felt either, managing a Super Raid to close the gap for the Tamil Thalaivas to two points after the first quarter of the game. However, it was the duo of Pawan Sehrawat and Ashish Narwal that kept the Telugu Titans in the lead, as the two combined for 10 touchpoints in the first half, with the score at 20-17 after the first 20 minutes.
Slowly but steadily, the Tamil Thalaivas managed to claw their way back into the contest in the second half. Sachin Tanwar reached a significant milestone of 1000 raid points and followed it up by completing his Super 10 in the game, giving his side a brief lead. Despite the Tamil Thalaivas building on that momentum and inflicting an All Out, Ashish Narwal made sure that the two teams stayed neck-and-neck at 25 points each.
After a quiet period in the second half, the heavyweight battle between two-star raiders continued. The high-flying Pawan Sehrawat showed his class once more, scoring a Super Raid to complete his Super 10 and put the Telugu Titans back on top by three points. That was before Sachin Tanwar got a two-point raid of his own, keeping his side in the hunt for a high-octane contest.
There was no stopping the most expensive player in the PKL this year as he completed 17 raid points that put the pressure back on the Telugu Titans. With the game coming down to the wire and only one point separating the two sides, it was Ankit who executed a superb tackle on Sachin Tanwar to seal the deal for the Telugu Titans.