All-rounder performance from Aslam Inamdar (8 points) helped Puneri Paltan beat Telugu Titans 34-33 in the second Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 match of Christmas day at The Sheraton Grand, Whitefield Bengaluru.
Siddharth Desai scored 15 points for the Telugu Titans but had no support from fellow raiders including captain Rohit Kumar as Pune secured a last-second victory.
The match started with all the eyes on top raiders Rahul Chaudhari and Siddharth Desai. The "showman" Rahul struggled again to make an impression with his early raids for Pune while Siddharth Desai showed why he is considered the "Baahubali" with powerful moves including massive hand-touches.
But his teammate and captain Rohit Kumar seemed to be moving gingerly and struggled to have an effect on the match for the Titans.
Aslam Inamdar seemed to be the brightest hope for Pune who did not have Nitin Tomar in the line-up. Telugu Titans got lucky as 4 Pune defenders jumped into the lobby to tackle Siddharth Desai who had already gone out of bounds.
The momentum shift handed them in the next move and Siddharth Desai secured a 3-point Super Raid in the last minute to end the half 20-14 in Titans' favour.
Pune regrouped in the second half and capitalised on Titans' lack of a strong raider to assist Siddharth Desai. Mohit Goyat's brilliant 3-point raid fetched the Pune team an ALL OUT and a slender 2-point lead in the 7thminute of the half.
But Siddharth Desai then put it a 3-point Super Raid to clinch his Super 10 and level the scores at 25-25 with 10 minutes remaining. Interestingly Rahul Chaudhari wasn't part of the Pune seven in the second half after being benched while defender AbineshNadarajan raced to his High 5 with some clean tackling.
Siddharth Desai ensured Titans got their ALL OUT with three minutes left on the clock to get a 2-point lead. But Aslam Inamdar, with a tackle and multiple quick raids ensure the momentum shifted back to Pune. The last raid blunder by Rakesh Gowda where he miscalculated a Bonus Point handed Pune a 1-point victory - their first of the season.
( With inputs from ANI )
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