PKL 11: Telugu Titans clinch second win of campaign

Pawan helps Telugu Titans secure a hard-fought 28-26 victory over Patna Pirates in Pro Kabaddi League Season 11 clash in Hyderabad on Monday.

Hyderabad: Telugu Titans were in fine form and put in a brilliant performance against the Patna Pirates on Monday, at the GMCB Indoor Stadium, in Hyderabad during PKL Season 11. Led by Pawan Sehrawat, the Telugu Titans won the game with a scoreline of 28-26.

It was Titans’ second win of PKL Season 11. For the Titans, Ashish Narwal scored 9 points and Pawan Sehrawat added 5 more to the cause. It was a cautious start with neither the Patna Pirates nor the Telugu Titans taking chances in the early minutes. And while the Pirates had a two-point lead in the initial minutes, Titans picked up their first points through Ashish Narwal in the fourth minute. For the Pirates, it was Devank and Ayan making the most impact in the early phase of play.

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Midway through the first half, the Pirates had a slender 1-point lead with the score at 6-5 in their favour. For the Titans, Vijay Malik was leading the way at that point. Slowly but surely, the Pirates, who are three-time champions, moved into a 3-point lead, with 3 minutes left in the first half. By the end of the first half, Patna Pirates led 13-10.

After the break, Pawan Sehrawat and the Telugu Titans sprang into action, reducing the deficit to one point in the early exchanges, before Vijay Malik brought things to level terms on 14-14 with 14 minutes left in the game. While Devank tried his best to keep the Patna Pirates in the lead, Ashish Narwal and the Telugu Titans landed an all-out, and they stormed into the lead with 10 minutes left on the clock.

As the final game progressed, the two sides cranked up the intensity and were trading points and raids, such that the difference between them stood at 1 point with 5 minutes to go. That’s when Ashish Narwal scored a super raid, which gave the Telugu Titans some breathing space. Ayan bounced back with a crisp raid right after for Patna Pirates, which put the game on a knife edge with a couple of minutes to go. However, Telugu Titans held on with some fierce individual performances, that got them the much-needed win.