PKL Season 10: Thalaivas off to winning start against Delhi

AHMEDABAD: Tamil Thalaivas’ star raider Ajinkya Pawar was on fire, as he went on to register a 21-point haul against the Dabang Delhi KC side on Sunday. The Tamil Thalaivas walked off the mat as the winner, with the score reading 42-31 in its favour.

The contest started off with both sides being watchful in the early minutes. The early exchanges saw both teams bag a couple of points each, with Ajinkya Pawar and Naveen Kumar getting their team off the mark. Neither side were ready to blink first, and the Thalaivas were looking very strong at the back. The trend continued well into the second phase of the first half, with the Thalaivas and Delhi exchanging blows, and not allowing the opposition get a sizeable lead.

Pawar and Sahil Gulia took charge for the Thalaivas, while Naveen and Ashu Malik were pushing the envelope for the Delhi side. With the first half nearing the end, the Thalaivas landed an ALL OUT on Manjeet, and stormed into the lead. Delhi, though, was having none of that and went through the gears quickly, with Naveen registering a Super Raid. At half-time, the Thalaivas was 4 points ahead, with the contest well and truly on a knife edge.

Delhi needed to up the ante in the second half, and it gave it its all after the breather. Nonetheless, the Thalaivas was on a roll. Pawar registered his Super 10, and was ably aided by Narender and Himanshu, which helped them stretch the lead to a 6-point one, early in the second half. At this point, the Thalaivas was looking to build on its lead, and Pawar was marching on towards a 20-point haul.

In the final ten minutes, the game swung in favour of the Thalaivas, which was on fire in all departments on the day. Delhi left no stone unturned in the second half, however, there were a few instances where there was a slip between the cup and the lip, and the opponents made that count. Eventually, the men in yellow, the Tamil Thalaivas stormed over the line, winning the contest with relative ease.

RESULTS: Tamil Thalaivas 42 bt Dabang Delhi 31; Gujarat Giants 34 bt Bengaluru Bulls 31