The Telugu Titans started their home leg without a victory on their sheet. In the 15th match of Pro Kabaddi season 4, the hosts faced an onerous battle against the defending champions Patna Pirates. The Titans appeared in control for much of the contest before losing their way at the end. The Pirates kept their spirits up despite trailing for most of the encounter before pulling away to a thrilling 35-33 victory.
Pardeep Narwal is one of the most formidable raiders in Indian kabaddi. He has amassed over 160 points already in a stellar PKL career. He showed why he is such a feared raider, deploying the dubki to escape from the clutches of two Titans to give Patna the early edge.
The Pirates enjoyed a three-point cushion, riding on the strength of Rajesh Mondal’s toe touch skill and Pardeep’s imposing raiding style.
It took some determined effort from Sandeep Narwal and Rahul Chaudhari to produce a stunning turn around as the match progressed deep into the first half.
Sandeep, manning the right corner produced several sparks of brilliance, ambushing the Pirates repeatedly to dent their confidence. Vinoth played his hand too as they cleaned up the Pairates at 13-10.
The Titans went into the break with a six-point cushion at 19-13. Pardeep, Rahul and Sandeep were clearly the stand-out performers at that stage of the match.
Half Time: Telugu Titans 19 – 13 Patna Pirates
Rahul continued to sparkle immediately after the break, but made an error of concentration to concede super tackle, allowing the Pirates to get within five of the Titans.
Even though Pardeep was off the court, the Pirates were inching closer to the Titans working points through the bonus line and super tackles. The gap was down to three with less than ten minutes on the clock.
Vinoth gave the Titans a shot in the arm when he picked a couple of points turning just in time during a vital raid. That opened the door for a second all out of the night.
At 30-21, the Titans needed to hold on for a little more than seven minutes for their first victory of the fourth season. But the Pirates snapped up both Rahul and Sukesh to turn the tide in their favour.
Pardeep added two points on his next raid to cut the deficit to five again. Vinoth played a good hand to produce an important super tackle for the Titans to retain the cushion.
On the raid though, Vinoth’s knee buckled and the young man from Pondicherry had to be carried off the mat on a stretcher. The Titans suffered their first all out of the evening as the tide turned clearly in favour of the visitors.
Rajesh Mondal put the Pirates in front picking two vital points with less than a minute to the end. Rahul went out needing a point to tie the encounter but Dharmaraj Charlathan locked up his feet to seal the deal for Patna.
Pardeep Narwal was elected the best raider while Titans had the consolation of seeing their defender Vinod gain the match honours for his enterprising tackles on the Pirates captain.
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