Despite the absence of star player and skipper Pawan Sehrawat, the Telugu Titans stunned the table-toppers Haryana Steelers with a massive 49-27 win in Match 61 of Season 11 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) at the Noida Indoor Stadium here on Monday.

Stand-in skipper Vijay Malik’s eight points were important but orchestrating the win was raider Ashish Narwal, who completed his Super 10. Shankar Gadai also completed his High 5, with Sagar Sethpal – brother of Rahul Sethpal – joining his defensive partner with a High 5 as well.

The Telugu Titans romped to an early lead as they dominated the Haryana Steelers in the early exchanges of the match. In the absence of their skipper Pawan Sehrawat, Ashish Narwal took charge of the raiding department, while a combined defensive performance inflicted an early All Out on the Haryana Steelers. This left the Manpreet Singh-coached side reeling as they carried a six-point deficit 10 minutes into the game.

The script of the first half was quite unexpected as the Telugu Titans piled pressure on their opponents. Vinay, who has been exceptional in Do-Or-Die raids this season, was unable to find his usual form, while Mohammadreza Shadloui slipped into the lobby as mistakes crept into the Haryana Steelers’ game.

A second All Out soon followed and the Titans’ lead, which was five points with two minutes left in the first half, extended to 13 as the score read 23-11 at the end of 20 minutes.

A third All Out followed for the Haryana Steelers, with stand-in skipper Vijay Malik taking charge of the match. With support from Shankar Gadai and Ashish Narwal once again, the Telugu Titans began to run away from the Haryana Steelers – who are also the current table toppers.

With the Haryana Steelers needing to close a 15-point gap at the start of the final 10 minutes of the match, the onus was on their players. However, it was not to be as the Telugu Titans continued their dominating performance all the way to the final whistle.

Ashish Narwal completed a well-earned Super 10 in a Do-Or-Die raid, while Sagar bagged his High 5 a couple of moves later, which inflicted a fourth All-Out on the Haryana Steelers, effectively closing out the match.