TELUGU TITANS REGISTERED their second win of the season with a convincing all-round performance in front of their home crowd, beating U Mumba by a 35-30 margin.
Titans began with an emphatic raid from young Nilesh Salunke who stole 2 points. Mumbai's Rishank Devadiga hit back with a touch on Vinod Kumar. Soon an attack on Anup Kumar got Sagar Krishna and Nilesh out of the mat. It was 4-4.
And this is where a turnaround happened; one that the Titans defenders led from the front. They took down Surender Singh, Rishank Devadiga and Anup Kumar. Mumbai trapped Rahul Chaudhari and Nilesh, but the Titans' sail had caught wind. They were 8-6 up.
Prapanjan got a touch, and then Suresu Kumar was trapped. Nilesh got another double touch. and so did Rahul. The hoe team was now 14-9 up.
In the face of an all-out, Mumbai's Rakesh Kumar ran a super raid but it wasn't enough. Nilesh got a double touch, leaving only Suresu Kumar on the mat. He was captured on the raid and U Mumba were all out. It was early in the second half and Telugu Titans were 19-13 up, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
Prapanjan and Rahul kept scoring, while Rishank got caught. Rakesh Kumar got a couple of successful raids for Mumbai but 29 minutes in he was buried under a pile of Ttans defenders. The score by now was 31-17.
Suresu Kumar got a touch, and was trapped in the next raid. So was Surender Singh. U Mumba defenders also trapped Prapanjan and Shashank Wankhede but it wasn't enough. With 4 minutes left, the score was 34-22.
There wasn't much left to do. Backed by a deafening home crowd, Telugu Titans were just too good. They held back as U Mumba tried one last bite. Rakesh Kumar and Anup Kumar ran some great raids, while Nilesh Salunke was caught. On the last minute, Jasmer Singh Gulia was the only Titan on the mat, and he had to concede the all-out. But still, it wasn't enough. Telugu Titans won the match 35-30, a convincing win that, more than anything else, signalled a significant performance improvement on their defenders' part. And if the good defensive form stays with them for the next few weeks, coupled with their strong raiding force, they can aim for a top four finish.