Siddharth Desai led the way with 15 points, while Mohit Goyat came off the bench for Paltan and finished with nine.
Follow Us
Puneri Paltan secured a 34-33 victory over the Telugu Titans on Saturday thanks to a storming comeback in the final few minutes of the game. Siddharth Desai led the way with 15 points, while Mohit Goyat came off the bench for Paltan and finished with nine. The first ten minutes were back-and-forth, with only Desai and Aslam Inamdar scoring. The Titans’ star scored five raid points, while Paltan’s rookie scored three. They also contributed on defence, scoring one tackle point each as the two teams were separated on the scoreboard by just one point.
A precarious situation led to a game-changing moment with a few minutes left in the first half. Desai entered the raid and slipped while turning, resulting in his hand landing in the lobby, knocking him out. Unaware of the situation, Paltan’s defence followed him into the lobby to pin him down, forcing them to flee as well.
This resulted in four points for the Titans and one for Paltan, with the latter having only one player on the mat. Telugu’s defence made quick work of the last player, inflicting the game’s first All Out and giving their team a comfortable lead.
Desai’s next raid was also game-changing, but it was less complicated this time. He tagged a defender and dived across the midline, but not before tagging a couple more Paltan defenders and scoring his first Super Raid of the night, giving the Titans a six-point lead at the half.
The Paltans came out stronger in the second half, cutting the Titans’ lead to three points. Mohit Goyat, a substitute, then went in for a raid, tagged three defenders, and slid his hand across the midline to assist the Paltan in inflicting an All Out. As the Paltan took a 25-22 lead, their defence added a couple of more points to their team’s total.
Desai delivered while his team was on the back foot. He scored his second Super Raid of the night to tie the game. Puneri Paltan was reduced to three on the ground after a strong tackle from the Titans’ defence. Desai went in to add to his tally but was stopped by Vishal Bhardwaj, giving the lead back to Paltan.
The Paltan’s resistance, however, was short-lived as the Titans’ defence and Desai combined to inflict an All Out and take the lead. The Titans took a conservative approach in the final minutes, while the Paltans forced the issue, and it was the latter’s tactical change that paid off, as they levelled the score with a minute left.
Inamdar went in for the game’s penultimate raid in a do-or-die situation and scored a point, giving the Paltan the lead. Substitute Rakesh Gowda attempted to level the score by picking up a bonus point, but he crossed the black line and thus was not awarded one, giving Paltan the win.
