Telugu Titans‘ winless streak in PKL 8 extended to five matches as the Patna Pirates edged them 31-30 in Match No. 31 on Monday. The two sides were locked at 30-all into the buzzer raid but Sandeep Kandola’s feeble ankle hold attempt cost them the victory.
The Telugu Titans set the ball rolling after bagging a bonus point through Rohit Kumar in the very first raid of the game and Monu Goyat helped the Patna Pirates reply with a bonus of their own to kickstart the proceedings.
Patna found themselves two points behind but Prasanth Kumar Rai initiated a Dubki to complete a ‘Super Raid’ as he escaped from three defenders to turn the tables.
There was no looking back as Patna inflicted the first ‘All Out’ after Mohammadreza Chiyaneh commenced a thigh hold on Rakesh Gowda while the scoreline read 12-7. Both sides exchanged blows all the way until the break as the score at halftime read 18-13 in the Pirates’ favor.
Mohammadreza Chiyaneh attempts a tackle for Patna Pirates in their PKL 8 match against Telugu Titans
The Titans started the second half on a bright note after Ruturaj Koravi’s double-thigh hold on Guman Singh restricted the Pirates to only three men. Ankit Beniwal had a successful Do-or-Die raid but Patna replied with a Super Tackle to find their way back in.
Both sides began playing on the Do-or-Die raids to enforce a break. While Sachin Tanwar was circled by the Titans’ defenders in his attempt, Beniwal tracked back just in time to get his dangling hand past the midline to restrict the Pirates to only two men.
Beniwal completed the formalities by pressurizing Niraj out of bounds and tapping Mohammadreza Chiyaneh on his shoulders to execute another All Out, with the scoreline reading 21-20.
After a revival of all the players, Patna returned to the game brightly as Monu escaped an ankle hold, and Titans raider Rakesh Gowda imbalanced himself and stepped into the lobby.
With just eight minutes of play left, the Telugu Titans equalized through Ankit Beniwal after he got a knee on a stooping Chiyaneh while escaping past the clutches of two dashing defenders.
Patna pulled out Beniwal with a ‘Super Tackle’ courtesy of Monu’s double thigh hold, while Sachin Tanwar’s toe-touch saw them extend the lead to four points. However, Beniwal escaped from the clutches of the Pirates’ defenders one-by-one to score a ‘Super 10’ and equalize the scoreline for the Telugu Titans at 30-all.
But, there was still time for another raid and an excited Sandeep Kandola initiated an ankle hold way too early in Sachin Tanwar’s raid. The latter had no trouble crossing the midline and sealed the deal for the Patna Pirates.
The Telugu Titans are doing well in patches but still lack overall chemistry while making silly errors in vital moments of the game. The eleventh-placed side will need to eliminate those problems when they take on second-placed Dabang Delhi on Wednesday.
Patna Pirates find themselves on a three-match winning streak with 21 points in their bag from 5 matches. They will take on sixth-placed Tamil Thalaivas on Thursday.