The Tamil Thalaivas defeated the Telugu Titans, the local team, 38-35 in an exciting first game on Friday night at the Vishwanadh Sports Club in Vizag. Bharat Hooda scored nine points for the home team, while Arjun Deshwal and Pawan Sehrawat were the Thalaivas’ top scorers with a Super 10 and nine points, respectively.
Arjun Deshwal continued his strong play from Season 11, giving the Tamil Thalaivas the lead with his first raid. Though Vijay Malik quickly opened the account for the Telugu Titans, the seasoned raider didn’t miss a beat.
Ten minutes into the first game, Bharat Hooda tied the score at 5-5 after scoring two points on a Do-or-Die raid to get the Titans back into the match.
In the first half, the two teams faced off against each other. With his 600th raid in the PKL, Bharat Hooda achieved a significant milestone while settling into his role with the Telugu Titans. Arjun Deshwal, meanwhile, put in a lot of work for his team, scoring seven raid points in the first half. With a score of 14–13 at the half, the Tamil Thalaivas had a slender lead.
A slow start to the second half was followed by a Do-or-Die Raid in which Bharat Hooda defeated Himanshu and Suresh Jadhav. After that, the Telugu Titans quickly executed the season’s first ALL OUT, putting them ahead by five points with the score at 19-14.
Arjun Deshwal kept the Tamil Thalaivas alive by recording the first Super 10 of the season, but the hosts were still in complete control of the match. Soon after, Pawan Sehrawat launched his account, sparking his team’s resurgence.
With less than five minutes remaining, the Tamil Thalaivas tied the score at 28-28 thanks to a strong combination from their two raiders. After Nitesh Kumar tackled Ashish Narwal, they took advantage of the momentum and got an ALL OUT, putting them ahead 31-29 by two points.
In the final moments of the match, Bharat Hooda finished his Super 10 to cut the deficit to one point. Pawan Sehrawat’s clutch Super Raid in the last seconds gave the Tamil Thalaivas a 38–35 victory.
