Tamil Thalaivas goes down fighting to Patna

HYDERABAD: Three-time champion Patna Pirates rode on the individual brilliance of Devank as it came from behind to defeat Tamil Thalaivas in an absolute edge-of-the-seat thriller at the GMCB Indoor Stadium, in Gachibowli, in Hyderabad on Friday. Devank scored a whopping 25 points as the Patna Pirates won by 42-40, to register its first win of PKL Season 11.

The Thalaivas were out of the blocks at good pace with Narender Kandola picking up a flurry of points to start with. And as the first few minutes were played out the Thalaivas took control of proceedings, putting pressure on the Pirates.

For the Thalaivas, it was Narender, Sachin and Nitesh Kumar leading the charge, while Devank was soldiering on for the Pirates. Midway through the first half, the Thalaivas had a solid 9-point lead. In the final minutes of the first half, Devank landed a Super Raid on the Thalaivas, and completed his Super 10. Similarly, Narender registered his Super 10 before the end of the first half, as the Thalaivas went into the break with the score at 23-18, in its favour.

After the break, Devank continued to chip away at the lead, and landed another Super Raid which brought the deficit down to 2 points. Devank, who had registered a whopping 22 points in the first 30 minutes of the game, caught the Thalaivas off guard. The Patna Pirates’ raider was in the mood for more, and with five minutes to go in the game, he put his team in the lead. By now, the dangerous Devank had scored 25 points, and was intent on getting the job done for his side.

Devank’s superb individual performance had rejuvenated the defensive unit, who were looking solid in the final phase of the game, and weren’t allowing the Thalaivas any scope to turn the contest around. Eventually, it was Devank who single-handedly turned the contest on its head, and handed the Patna Pirates a morale-boosting win.