The Tamil Thalaivas defeated reigning champions Haryana Steelers 45-33 on Friday in front of a full house at the SDAT Multi-Purpose Indoor Stadium in Chennai, their first home victory since PKL 6, which took place in 2018.
With an incredible 22-point effort, Arjun Deshwal spearheaded the attack, and Nitesh Kumar added four tackles as well. Vishal Tate’s Super 10 and Jaideep Dahiya’s High Five, meanwhile, were unsuccessful for the Haryana Steelers.
The game began with a lot of action as the reigning champs got off to a fast start. Vinay then launched a brief raid after Sahil Narwal’s tackle on Arjun Deshwal gave the team the first points. After Rohit Beniwal scored the first goal for the Thalaivas, Nitesh Kumar wasted no time in making his presence known by tackling Vinay.
With little separating the two teams, the two captains, Arjun Deshwal and Jaideep Dahiya, also took the score in the first exchanges. With Shivam Patare also helping, the Haryana Steelers skipper quickly recorded two Super Tackles in the first ten minutes, giving his team a three-point advantage.
Arjun Deshwal kept his side within striking distance with a successful Do-Or-Die Raid, thanks to defensive contributions from Ronak, Himanshu, and Nitesh Kumar. Despite this, the Haryana Steelers were able to maintain their lead with a two-point edge at 15–13 thanks to their captain leading the way with a high five in the first half.
The game quickly devolved into the Arjun Deshwal show as the hosts got off to a frenzied start in the second half, tying the score at 15-15. The raider scored nineteen points in the second half after only managing three points in the first. He gave Tamil Thalaivas a three-point advantage by assisting his team in recording the game’s first ALL OUT. Aashish and Nitesh Kumar’s tackles extended that lead even more, and their captain took advantage of the momentum to score the game’s first Super Raid.
He quickly finished his Super 10 in spectacular fashion, giving the Haryana Steelers a second ALL OUT in ten minutes and gaining a decisive ten-point advantage. With less than nine minutes remaining, he led his side 34–21 and was unstoppable as he continued to accumulate raids for pleasure. With the support of the Chennai audience, he added to the suffering by hitting the reigning champions with a third ALL OUT.
The Tamil Thalaivas thus took total control of the game, outscoring their opponents 18–6 in the third quarter. Vishal Tate scored a huge four-point raid, giving the Haryana Steelers some respite. With less than three minutes remaining in the game, his team was able to close the margin to 41-30 thanks to that, eventually recording their first ALL OUT.
Even though Vishal finished his Super 10, his team was unable to overcome the enormous gap, and Arjun Deshwal scored 22 points during the game to lead his team to a thrilling 45-33 triumph. Since PKL 6 in 2018, this was Tamil Thalaiva’s first victory at home.
