PKL 12: Deshwal's career-best 26 helps Thalaivas to a big home win over Pirates

Chennai, Oct 7 (IANS) Arjun Deshwal, who registered his career best performance with 26 points as Tamil Thalaivas signed off from their home leg with a dominant 56-37 win against Patna Pirates in Season 12 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) at the SDAT Multi-Purpose Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.

It was a night to remember for Deshwal as he also amassed his 71st Super 10 in the league, climbing to third place on the list of most Super 10s in PKL history.

Nitesh Kumar also completed his High Five on the night, while Narender Kandola and Aashish chipped in with six and five points respectively. Their 56 points was also the most by a team in a match this season. For Patna Pirates, Ayan Lohchab and Ankit Rana registered Super 10s, but that was not enough for their side.

The two main raiders - Arjun Deshwal and Ayan Lohchab - got off to quick starts to open the account for their respective sides. It was the latter who imposed himself on the Tamil Thalaivas defence first, securing a Super Raid to open up a slender gap between the two sides. Ankit Rana also chipped in for the Pirates, keeping them in the driver’s seat initially.

Aashish and Himanshu kept the hosts within touching distance, but they eventually surrendered the first All Out of the match courtesy a tackle by Navdeep, giving the Pirates a four-point opening. Despite the setback, the Thalaivas stayed in the hunt with the score at 13-11 after the opening ten minutes.

It didn’t take the home side long to turn the tables, though. Nitesh Kumar and Aashish combined for a couple of tackles to level the score at 14-14 before the former got a tackle to extract revenge with an All Out for the Thalaivas, giving them a four-point lead. Arjun further extended that lead, finding his groove and completing his eighth Super 10 of the season.

For the Pirates, Ankit Rana kept them in the game with a couple of raids, but the momentum for the home side couldn’t be halted. By the end of the first half, Tamil Thalaivas had stamped their authority on the game with their second All Out, establishing a commanding eleven-point lead with the score at 30-19.

Ankit Rana completed his Super 10, helping his team reduce the deficit to nine points and giving the Pirates an opening at the start of the second half. However, Narender Kandola emerged with a successful Do-Or-Die Raid, followed by a tackle from Arulnanthababu to ensure Tamil Thalaivas stay in control of the proceedings. Meanwhile, Ayan Lohchab also registered his Super 10 as his team continued to fight.

With the Thalaivas in control, Nitesh Kumar completed his fifth High Five of the seasons, while Arjun Deshwal continued to keep his foot on the pedal with their side having a fourteen-point advantage with close to eight minutes to play. His side executed their third ALL OUT of the game courtesy a tackle by Aashish, and the writing was on the wall thereafter, with the score at 43-26.

Fighting till the end, Ayan Lohchab recorded a humongous four-point Super Raid to give the Patna Pirates fans something to smile about. However, that didn’t have an effect on the grand scheme of things. Arjun Deshwal added the finishing touches to the game, ending a historic night for him with 26 points, while also recording the best performance by a raider in a game this season as Tamil Thalaivas completed a 19-point triumph.

--IANS

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