Pune: It was a night to remember for the fans of the Haryana Steelers, who secured a massive 46-25 win over the Telugu Titans at the Badminton Hall in Balewadi Stadium, here in Match 101 of PKL 11.
Led by another impressive performance from Shivam Patare – who finished with 12 points, Haryana Steelers on Monday night proved their credentials as table toppers while also getting revenge for their previous loss to the Telugu Titans in the Noida Leg of PKL 11.
Haryana Steelers’ raider Vinay firmly began the game, running to three quick raid points to give his team an early lead. For the Telugu Titans, Ashish Narwal started with an impressive raid that got Jaideep and Sanjay off the mat.
Despite this minor setback, the Haryana Steelers were on the front foot and inflicted the first ALL OUT on the Telugu Titans just nine minutes into the first half.
The same script continued for the rest of the first half, as the Haryana Steelers extended their lead to a massive 19 points at the break. A lot of these points were down to a second ALL OUT that was inflicted on the Telugu Titans.
A confident Mohammadreza Shadloui played the role of a true all-rounder, with three tackle points and two raid points to his name.
Among the raiders, Shivam Patare joined the party and finished the first half with seven points, including a multi-point raid that got Ashish Narwal and Ajit Pawar off the mat. This blow meant the score read 28-9 in favour of the table toppers at the end of the first half.
The second half commenced with an important raid from the Telugu Titans skipper Vijay Malik, who got Shadloui and Jaideep in one fell swoop.
However, the Haryana Steelers were not to be kept quiet for too long. Shivam Patare ran to his Super 10 when he got Krishan Dhull in a Do-Or-Die raid.
On the other side of the mat, Ashish Narwal and Vijay Malik kept the pressure on their opponents but failed to receive any support from their teammates.
A Super Tackle by Vijay Malik and Ashish Narwal brought a smile on the face of the Telugu Titans fans’ face, and in the very next raid, Ashish was quick to touch Shadloui and return to his side in the final minutes of the clash.
This prevented a third ALL OUT on the Telugu Titans, but they eventually lost by 21 points in what is a blow to their playoff ambitions.
