Thalaivas inches closer to play-offs

HYDERABAD: The Tamil Thalaivas stand-in skipper Ajinkya Pawar led by example as his team produced a scintillating display to defeat Telugu Titans 52-24 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium here on Saturday.

Pawar finished the match with 20 points while Narender added 10 more to the cause, leading Thalaivas to a massive win. It was a cautious start with both Titans and Thalaivas trading points in the early exchanges. On the five-minute mark, Thalaivas though sneaked ahead, leading by a scoreline of 6-3. Pawar, left corner defender Sahil Gulia and Narender made some telling contributions for the Tamil Nadu team.

The southern side started to consolidate its position from then on, getting an eight-point lead at one stage before K Hanumanthu of Titans chipped in with points at the other end. A few minutes later, the Thalaivas defence got its act going, with M Abishek and Mohit standing tall, helping it storm into a seven-point cushion.

Before the end of the first half, Pawar helped inflict an ‘All Out’ on the Telugu team and in the process brought up his ‘Super 10’. At the break, Thalaivas 26-16 and was firmly in the box seat. After the breather, both sets of players took their time to get going, but it was Pawar who led from the front with an incredible ‘Super Raid’, which took out five players.

Abhishek Singh then landed a three-point raid right after, but with just under ten minutes to go, Thalaivas had a 16-point lead. Pawar inflicted another ‘All Out’ while Narender joined the party as well, pushing Thalaivas towards the half-century mark with less than five minutes to go. Soon enough, the fifty-point mark was breached, and Thalaivas eventually ran away as comfortable winner.

RESULTS: Telugu Titans 24 lost to Tamil Thalaivas 52; Dabang Delhi 44 lost to Puneri Paltan 47; Jaipur Pink Panthers 57 bt Bengal Warriors 31