Noida: Tamil Thalaivas returned to winning ways after a brilliant performance that helped them beat UP Yoddhas 40-26 in Match 77 of PKL 11 at the Noida Indoor Stadium here.
It was a well-earned victory on Tuesday night led by substitute Masanamuthu and Iranian Moein Shafaghi as they made up for their loss in the previous outing between the two sides.
A fast start from Tamil Thalaivas saw early points won by Narender Kandola. However, a Super Tackle by Ashu Singh set the tone for a comeback for the home team, UP Yoddhas.
Gagan Gowda started with a Do-or-Die raid that got Nitesh Kumar. His next successful raid also bore fruit by inflicting an All-Out on Tamil Thalaivas, getting Sahil Gulia and Ronak in one brilliant raid.
This gave UP Yoddhas a solid base to work on their lead over Tamil Thalaivas. Despite Narender winning raid points for his team, he did not get any support from his teammates, which hurt their chances throughout the game.
UP Yoddhas continued their strong momentum through to the end of the first half with a score difference of 17-12 in their favour.
The second half began in a similar manner with Tamil Thalaivas struggling in the absence of Narender Kandola, who was substituted after suffering an injury towards the end of the first half.
It seemed like UP Yoddhas were running away with the win, but this was not to be as Masanamuthu entered the fray and changed the complexion of the match.
In the third phase of the match, Masanamuthu – who was brought on in place of Narender Kandola – came on with an unexpected Super Raid that got Ashu Singh, Sahul Kumar and Sumit in one fell swoop. This inflicted an All-Out on UP Yoddhas as Tamil Thalaivas turned the tide on their opponents.
Iranian Moein Shafaghi entered the fray for Tamil Thalaivas and he complemented Masanamuthu as they went on to inflict another All-Out on the home team.
Gagan Gowda was on form, but his teammates failed to perform and with a final All-Out inflicted on UP Yoddhas by Shafaghi once again – their third of the night – the match eventually ended with a 14-point win for Tamil Thalaivas.
