Telugu Titans defeated the Puneri Paltan 40-31 to guarantee their spot in the top eight at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium on Saturday. The Titans secured their postseason spot, with Shubham Shinde recording his second High Five of the season and Vijay Malik leading the way with a Super 10.
Vaibhav Rabade, Dadaso Pujari, and Mohd Amaan all contributed defensively to Puneri Paltan’s nine-point score from Sachin Tanwar. But their team couldn’t cross the finish line with that alone.
Both teams quickly established the game’s tempo, with Vijay Malik and Sachin Tanwar opening the scoring for their respective teams. Before the Telugu Titans took the lead thanks to two multi-point raids from Bharat Hooda, who gave his team a five-point lead, Shubham Shinde and Vaibhav Rabade also traded tackles.
Thanks to Shubham Shinde’s third tackle point, the Titans were able to execute an ALL OUT. Puneri Paltan scored a few points thanks to a few of tackles from Ankit and Dadaso Pujari, but they were at a loss as Vijay Malik and Bharat Hooda kept applying pressure.
With Avi Duhan’s second tackle of the game and a second ALL OUT, the Telugu Titans truly started to show their superiority. With raids from Stuwart Singh and tackles Mohd Amaan and Dadaso Pujari, table toppers kept the scoreboard moving, but they were unable to make a big enough difference to close the gap. The Titans led by fifteen points at the half, 26–11, after a dominant first half performance.
The Titans maintained their lead through tackles from Ankit and Vaibhav Rabade at the start of the second half. They remained in control as Shubham Shinde finished his High Five with a Super Tackle. The Puneri Paltan did, however, demonstrate some determination to defend themselves.
With three tackles from Mohd Amaan and some momentum from Sachin on the raiding end, the Paltan were able to force their first ALL OUT and reduce the deficit to twelve points. As the Titans captain finished his Super 10, Vijay Malik closed the door for them just when it appeared they had gained enough momentum to make a strong comeback.
Puneri Paltan gave it their all in the second half, but ultimately lost. Bharat Hooda put the final touches on the Telugu Titans, who won 40-31 to guarantee a spot in the top eight after maintaining a twelve-point advantage for most of the second half.
