TAMIL THALAIVAS took sweet revenge against Bengaluru Bulls and claimed their first win of the season with 29-24 in the last fixture of the Nagpur leg. In their previous tie, Rohit Kumar-led Bulls had pipped the Sachin Tendulkar co-owned franchise 32-31.
Both teams started off cautiously without taking any major risks and attacking mainly in do-or-die raids. Following a series of successful raids from Ajay Kumar, Vineet Kumar, Rohit Kumar and K. Prapanjan, score read 3-3 after the sixth minute. The scores stayed level but Bengaluru Bulls kept taking out the Tamil Thalaivas players courtesy of skipper Rohit Kumar’s successful raids.Â
Thalaivas looked to suffer their first All-Out of the game, however, D. Pratap, who was their last player left on the mat, rose to the occasion and picked a successful raid to revive C. Arun. Subsequently, the duo executed a Super Tackle on Rohit Kumar and averted an All-Out risk.Â
Bengaluru Bulls calculated their raids in order to effect a last-second do-or-die raid in the first half but Dong Geon Lee raided successfully for the Thalaivas and to push the Bulls on the brink of an All-Out. The teams went into the break with a score reading 12-8 in favor of Thalaivas.
Following a successful raid from both sides, the Ajay Thakur-led Thalaivas inflicted their first All-Out on Bulls and extended their lead to seven points. After coming on after All-Out, Rohit Kumar cruised to another Super 10 and inflicted an All-Out on Thalaivas. After the 12th minute in the second half, the Bulls trailed by just two points as scores read 21-19.Â
The scores could have been leveled in the 19th minute but a successful Tamil Thalaivas review meant that they retained their slender lead. The Thalaivas displayed a strong defensive effort to dash out Ajay Kumar and win the match 29-24 after the last raid.Â
Bengaluru Bulls starting 7: Preetam Chhillar, Ashish Kumar, Mahender Singh, Ajay Kumar, Rohit Kumar, Ravinder Pahal, Sachin Kumar
Substitutions: Sanjay Shrestha; Kuldeep Singh; Harish Naik; Sumit Singh; Pardeep Khandola
Tamil Thalaivas starting 7: K. Prapanjan, Muruthu M, C.Arun, Vineet Kumar, Ajay Thakur, Amit Hooda, D. Pratap
Substitutions: Dong Geon Lee; M. Thivakaran; Darshan J; Bhavani Rajput; Anil Kumar
Le Panga:
Rohit Kumar: The Bulls skipper looked like one-man-army against the Tamil side. Apart from Ravinder Pahal, Rohit got no major support from any of his teammates. The star raider scored 12 points, which amounted to half of the team’s points. Rohit displayed swift hand and toe touches combined with tactical brilliance.Â