Gujarat Fortunegiants produced an accomplished performance to beat Tamil Thalaivas 36-25 in Inter Zone Challenge Week of Vivo Pro Kabaddi Season VI. Sachin led the charge for Gujarat with 12 raid points and got ample support from Ajay Kumar who contributed seven raid points. For Tamil Thalaivas, Ajay Thakur got seven points but their second half performance let them down. It was the sixth defeat of the campaign for Thalaivas whereas Gujarat Fortunegiants registered their second win of the season.
Both teams began the match on a strong footing as they traded tackle and raid points. Ajay Kumar for Gujarat Fortunegiants and Ajay Thakur for Tamil Thalaivas got couple of raid points as the score was 5-5 after four minutes.
Tamil Thalaivas trailed 6-8 in the 9th minute but tied the match at 8-8 in the next minute. It was an evenly contested first half as Gujarat got into the lead but Tamil Thalaivas keep coming back to level the match. Sukesh Hegde got a raid point in the 18th minute for Tamil Thalaivas to level the match at 11-11. Gujarat Fortunegiants held a slender two-point advantage as they led 16-14 at the end of the first half.
Gujarat started the second half strongly as they scored five points in three minutes to lead 20-15 after 23 minutes. Gujarat Fortunegiants extended their dominance as the inflicted the first all out of the match in the 26th minute to lead 26-16.
Tamil Thalaivas scored just one point in first seven minutes of the second half. Amit Hooda forced a great tackle on danger man Ajay Kumar as Thalaivas trailed 18-28. A two-point raid by Ajay Thakur in the 31st minute saw Thalaivas reduce the lead to nine points.
As the match progressed Gujarat Fortunegiants strengthened their grip and remained on course to a comfortable win. They enjoyed a 11-point lead with just four minutes left. Tamil Thalaivas tried to reduce to the margin of defeat in the last couple of minutes.
Pardeep Narwal’s Patna Pirates will face U Mumba in tomorrow’s encounter while Jaipur Pink Panthers will take on Bengal Warriors.