PKL 2024: Telugu Titans humble table-toppers Haryana Steelers

The Telugu Titans, sans Pawan Sehrawat, stunned the table-topper Haryana Steelers with a massive 49-27 win in Match 61 of PKL 11 at the Noida Indoor Stadium on Monday.

In the evening's second match, U Mumba won a thriller against Bengaluru Bulls 38-37 to claim the fourth spot on the points table with 34 points in ten matches.

Bulls' stand-in skipper Vijay Malik’s 8 points were important but orchestrating the win was raider Ashish Narwal, who completed his Super 10.

Shankar Gadai also completed his High 5, with Sagar Sethpal – brother of Rahul Sethpal – joining his defensive partner with a High 5 as well.

The Telugu Titans romped to an early lead as they dominated the Haryana Steelers in the early exchanges of the match.

In the absence of their skipper Pawan Sehrawat, Ashish Narwal took charge of their raiding department, while a combined defensive performance inflicted an early ALL OUT on the Haryana Steelers. This left the Manpreet Singh-coached side reeling as they carried a six-point deficit 10 minutes into the game.

Vijay shines 

Telugu Titans piled the pressure on their opponents in the first half. Vinay, who has been exceptional in Do-or-Die raids this season, struggled to find his usual form. Mohammadreza Shadloui slipped into the lobby as the mistakes crept into the Haryana Steelers’ game.

A second ALL OUT soon followed and a lead that was five points with two minutes left of the first half, extended to 13 as the score read 23-11 at the end of 20 minutes.

A third ALL OUT followed for the Haryana Steelers, with stand-in skipper Vijay Malik taking charge of the match. With support from Shankar Gadai and Ashish Narwal once again, the Telugu Titans began to run away from the Haryana Steelers – who are also the current table toppers.

With the Haryana Steelers needing to close a 15-point gap at the start of the final 10 minutes of the match, the onus was on them. However, it was not to be as the Telugu Titans continued their dominating performance all the way to the victory.

Ashish Narwal completed a well-earned Super 10 in a Do-Or-Die raid, while Sagar completed his High 5 a couple of moves later, which inflicted a fourth ALL OUT on the Haryana Steelers, effectively closing out the match. 

U Mumba prevail over Bengaluru Bulls

U Mumba managed to get over the line against the Bengaluru Bulls in an action-packed contest that ended with a scoreline of 38-37, in Match 62 of PKL 11.

Ajit Chouhan recorded a Super 10, Manjeet scored nine points, while Amirmohammad Zafardanesh and Sunil Kumar got four points each to help U Mumba outdo the Bengaluru Bulls, despite Pardeep Narwal’s Super 10.

It didn’t take too long for the record breaker Pardeep Narwal and Ajit Chouhan to make their mark, making it a quick start for the two teams. The defenders managed to get themselves in the game soon enough, as the two teams traded blow for blow in the opening exchanges of this contest.

Ajit Chouhan gave U Mumba a slender lead, eliminating two Bengaluru Bulls players in a Do-or-Die Raid, but Ajinkya Pawar struck right back with a two-point raid of his own.

A Super Tackle from Amirmohammad Zafadanesh on Sushil put U Mumba in the lead once more, before Pardeep Narwal inflicted a two-point raid, resulting in an ALL OUT that helped Bengaluru Bulls get their noses in front.

It was a high-octane first half that saw plenty of back-and-forth action. Pardeep Narwal was leading the way for the Bengaluru Bulls with eight points in the first half, while Ajit Chouhan also did the same for U Mumba.

The Season 2 champions ended the half with a slender one-point advantage courtesy of Manjeet, who got himself to five points with some quick raids, closing half with the scoreline at 21-20.

There was no separating the two teams as they went toe-to-toe in the second half as well. The defenses were on top in the second half, making it incredibly difficult for the raiders to dictate terms. U Mumba managed to get themselves a two-point lead before that was quickly wiped off by the Bengaluru Bulls.

U Mumba once again managed to get a three-point lead courtesy of a Super Raid from Manjeet, who kept growing in confidence as the game progressed.

Heading into the final quarter of the game, Pardeep Narwal completed his Super 10 to keep the Bengaluru Bulls in the game, even though they trailed by three points.

The lead for U Mumba extended to five points after Ajit Chouhan completed his Super 10, seemingly putting his side in the driver’s seat.

Keeping in tune with the theme of this close contest though, Bengaluru Bulls cut the deficit down to one point as Sunny enforced a Super Tackle on Manjeet.

The thrilling action continued in the final stages of this game as the Bengaluru Bulls levelled things up with under four minutes to go.

They momentarily had a narrow one-point lead as Nitin Rawal completed his High Five, before Sunil Kumar inflicted a Super Tackle on Sushil, putting U Mumba back in front with under two minutes to go.

In the end, it was a clutch Super Tackle from Parvesh Bhainswal that put U Mumba in the lead by two points with 29 seconds left on the clock.

As it turned out, that was enough for the Season 2 champions to clinch a dramatic victory with the scoreline at 38-37, helping U Mumba jump back to second place in the points table.