Pune: The Tamil Thalaivas registered their eighth win of the season with a convincing performance against Bengaluru Bulls, winning by a scoreline of 42-32 at the Badminton Hall in the Balewadi Sports Complex in PKL Season 11, on Sunday. Himanshu completed a Super 10 and was well supported by Moein Shafaghi as they overcame the bottom-placed side, despite Sushil’s 15-point game.
It wasn’t the most action-packed start to the game with raiders of both teams not quite flying off the blocks. Moein Shafaghi opened the scoring, while Parteek got the first tackle of the evening. The defences were on top in the opening exchanges as Amir Hossein Bastami got himself into the action with a tackle of his own.
Sushil registered the first successful raid for Bengaluru Bulls, and Parteek started well on the defensive end too. Amir Hossein Bastami responded with a successful tackle on a Do-or-Die Raid, followed by a raid from Moein Shafaghi to level the scores at 4-4. It was a Super Raid from Sushil that gave Bengaluru Bulls a three-point lead before Tamil Thalaivas fought back to take an 8-7 lead after the first timeout.
Moein Shafaghi carried on his good run on the attacking end for Tamil Thalaivas, while Sushil was doing the same for Bengaluru Bulls. A tackle by Nitin Rawal gave them the lead again, as the defensive units continued to stay on top. A Super Tackle from Abhishek Manokaran helped Tamil Thalaivas level things up at 12-12, before they closed out the first half with a slender one-point lead as the scoreline read 14-13.
Himanshu got the first raid of the second half, but Pardeep Narwal quickly levelled things up with a two-point raid of his own. Sai Prasad put Tamil Thalaivas back in front with a couple of raids and got support from Abhishek Manokaran, who got the first successful tackle of the first half. Another successful tackle, this time by Aashish helped Tamil Thalaivas take a four-point lead.
Sushil kept the scoreboard ticking for Bengaluru Bulls with a successful Do-or-Die Raid and got support from Naveen, as he inflicted a Super Tackle to help their side cut the deficit to two-points. However, the duo of Himanshu and Moein Shafaghi ensured that the Tamil Thalaivas regain their four-point lead, with the score at 23-19 going into the final phase of the game.
Amir Hossein Bastami helped his side inflict an ALL OUT on the Bengaluru Bulls to put some daylight between the two sides. Himanshu further extended the lead to 10-points with another Super Raid, reducing Bengaluru Bulls to three players on the mat. Sushil showed some spirit and registered his Super 10 to keep his side in the game.
However, there was no respite for the Bengaluru Bulls as they suffered another ALL OUT to give their opponents a twelve-point lead. Moein Shafaghi amassed 100 raid points for the season, and with close to five minutes to go in the contest, the writing was already on the wall.
Pardeep Narwal got a two-point raid and Sushil kept his foot on the pedal to try and take the game to their opponents. Eventually, it was the Tamil Thalaivas who came out on top in this contest with the scoreline of 42-32 as Himanshu completed his Super 10, finishing with 13 points, to wrap up a complete performance for his side.
Schedule for PKL Season 11 match on Monday, December 23:
Match 1 – Gujarat Giants vs Dabang Delhi K.C. – 8 pm
Match 2 – Puneri Paltan vs Tamil Thalaivas – 9 pm
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