Telugu Titans made a stunning comeback to hold Haryana Steelers to a 39-39 tie in Match 77 of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 here in Bengaluru.
Haryana raced to an early lead in the first half thanks to their raider Vikash Kandola, who scored a Super 10. But it was his mistake in the final raid of the match - failing to secure a legal raid with the team having a 1-point advantage - that led to the match being tied.
The Titans never gave up despite trailing in most parts of the match and will have to thank their left corner defender Sandeep Kandola for the result. He scored a High 5 (6 tackle points) while raider Ankit Beniwal secured a super 10.
Haryana Steelers started the match on the front foot with their raiding trio of Vikash Kandola, Rohit Gulia and Vinay taking turns to win raid points. Telugu Titans struggled to match the intensity with their star raider Rajnish missing out.
Ankit Beniwal and Adarsh T could not woo errors from the Haryana defence marshalled by the experienced Surender Nada in the left corner. Vikash Kandola scored a 3-point Super Raid in the 10th minute that helped the Steelers clinch an all-out. They opened an 8-point lead, but the Titans staged an immediate fightback.
Adarsh's strong raids on the right-hand side yielded points for Telugu while defender Sandeep Kandola thwarted the Haryana raiders from his left corner position. Together, they helped the Titans inflict an all-out in the last minute of the first half and narrow the points gap to just one.
The Titans sustained the pressure on the Steelers defence in the early minutes. Captain Rohit Kumar picked up a 3-point Super Raid in the 5th minute after the restart to reduce the Haryana men on the mat.
Ankit Beniwal's 2-point raid in the 9th minute was followed by Adarsh's touch-point which ensured the Titans secured another all-out. The team took a 2-point lead as Sandeep Kandola got his High 5.
Haryana had a 1-point advantage as the match entered the final 5 minutes. And they extended it, courtesy of a 2-point raid by Vikash Kandola which saw him secure a Super 10. The Steelers inflicted another all-out to open a 5-point lead with 3 minutes remaining.
The Titans clawed their way back as the Steelers faltered in their time management. Vikash Kandola failed to register a legal raid in the last move of the match and the match ended in a tie.
( With inputs from ANI )
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