Chennai, Dec 26
Skipper Jaideep Dahiya starred as Haryana Steelers cruised to a 42-29 victory over Tamil Thalaivas in their Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 match at the SDAT Multipurpose Indoor Stadium on Monday.
Tamil Thalaivas’ poor form in their home continued as this was their fourth consecutive loss in the season. Their only positive takeaway was Sahil Gulia, the left corner, finishing with 10 tackle points.
Haryana Steelers came into the game with excellent form and rode the momentum to storm to a 5-1 lead. Both teams opted to play to their defences and the Tamil Thalaivas managed an early comeback through two Super Tackles to trail 6-7 in the 11th minute.
However, Vinay produced one of the raids of the season to put the Steelers ahead 14-7. Up against a three-man defence, he got past Himanshu Singh, Nitesh Kumar and a managed last-gasp touch on Ajinkya Pawar before showing incredible backtracking skills and court awareness to get his fingers past the mid-line and inflict the All-Out. That raid set the tone of the opening half as the Steelers went into the break leading 18-12.
The Thalaivas had a poor first 20 minutes as they managed just four raid points and their ace raider Narender, who was brought back to the squad for this game, was substituted.
The Steelers continued to hold a lead of 7-8 points in the second half as Shivam Patare came off the bench to take over their raiding responsibilities. The Thalaivas had a golden chance to make a comeback in the 29th minute, but Rahul Sethpal executed a Super Tackle to eliminate Jatin and extend his side’s lead to 29-20. The tackle also completed Rahul’s High 5.
The Steelers were reduced to three men yet again – in the 31st and 33rd minute – but the defence bailed them out as Rahul and Jaideep Dahiya both produced Super Tackle.
The Steelers led 35-22 with 5 minutes to go. The Thalaivas tried their best to reduce the deficit, but yet another Super Tackle from Mohit capped off the victory for Manpreet Singh’s side. The 13-point win margin marked the Steelers’ biggest win of the season.
