Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Five best matches from Nagpur leg of PKL 5

#5 Match 22 - Bengaluru Bulls v Tamil Thalaivas - Thalaivas won 29-24

The Thalaivas picked up their first win of Pro Kabaddi

We started this list with a clash between these two sides and finish with the same two teams as they delivered another thriller to round off the Nagpur leg on the final evening.

After having fallen agonizingly short in their last match, the Thalaivas came into this contest at the bottom of the table in Zone B and delivered a fine performance to pick up their first win. The Thalaivas started much better in this match and after matching the Bulls early, were the first side to pull away towards the end of the first half.

Thalaivas coach K. Baskaran even subbed out captain Ajay Thakur midway through the first half for Dong Geon Lee. The Thalaivas, in fact, had been reduced to just one man at one point, but defender Pradap managed to get a touch on Ashish Sangwan to keep them alive and revive C. Arun.

The two of them then combined to effect a Super Tackle on Rohit Kumar on the Bulls' next raid. Prapanjan and Lee delivered two more successful raids to help their side to a 12-8 lead at the half.

The second half had everything and started with the Thalaivas extending their advantage to 17-9 with the help of an All Out. The Bulls, however, refused to be cowed down in their last home game as Rohit Kumar began to come into his own. With a powerful charge led by their captain and Ravinder Pahal delivering on the defensive end, they inflicted an All Out of their own and trailed 19-21 with nine minutes left, Rohit picking up yet another Super 10 in raid points.

However, try as they might, they just could not overhaul the Thalaivas.

The Thalaivas though stayed resolute and besides their play on the mat, it was their brilliant use of the review that powered them to a win in this game. They got each and every review right throughout the game, although there was a bit of controversy with their last one.

The first big moment came when the Thalaivas' lead stood at 21-20 and Prapanjan was not awarded a Bonus Point by the referees. Upon review, he was granted the Bonus, pushing the lead to 22-20.

The second came with just two minutes remaining. The Bulls had closed in to within two points at 24-26 and Ashish Sangwan came into raid for Bengaluru. It looked like he had gotten a touch on Amit Hooda in the right corner and as Pradap came to push him out, he got a touch on him too. The referees awarded the Bulls two points. The Thalaivas opted to review though and the TV umpire adjudged there was no touch on Hooda in the corner. However, since Ashish and Pradap had stepped into the lobby, both teams were given one point each, meaning the lead stayed the same.

The biggest moment came just a minute later with Rohit Kumar coming in on a Do or Die raid. With the Thalaivas defence giving him nothing, the raid went all the way down to the wire. However, with Rohit retreating after an attempted touch on the left cover defender, Amit Hooda put in a dash to force Rohit out.

The umpires awarded a point to the Bulls, but upon review, it was seen that Rohit's hand had come from out to in which meant the raider was out and the point went to the Thalaivas taking them to a 27-24 lead.

The TV umpire though failed to notice Hooda stepping into the lobby before his dash. Had that been seen, the Bulls would have gotten two points and would have tied it up. That successful review helped the Thalaivas keep their noses in front and hold on for their first win.

Rohit Kumar had his fifth Super 10 of the season finishing with 11 raid points in a losing cause. The Thalaivas got contributions from everyone with Prapanjan and Lee leading the way in raids with six and four points respectively.