PKL 8: Haryana share spoils with Mumbai, Thalaivas defeat UP Yoddha

The Steelers played their sixth match in the Season 8 on Tuesday.

Haryana Steelers and U Mumba played an enthralling game in Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 8 as the match ended in a tie in Bengaluru on Tuesday. U Mumba attained momentum and were in the lead for the most part of the second half, however, the Haryana Steelers fought hard and eventually the two teams were locked at 24-24 when the final whistle was blown.

Haryana and U Mumba were neck-and-neck in the opening minutes of the PKL match, however, U Mumba took the lead at 4-3 in the 14th minute. Both the teams continued to play out a close contest until the Haryana side gained momentum in the 15th minute and led at 10-8. The Steelers carried out a fantastic tackle in the 18th minute and kept their lead at 11-9.

Moments later, the Haryana side effected another tackle and recorded a three-point lead at 12-9. The U Mumba side carried out a tackle in the last few seconds of the first half as the two sides went into the break with Haryana leading at 12-10.

The Steelers rode on the momentum in the PKL match and effected a fantastic tackle in the 24th minute as they led at 14-11. Haryana's defence unit kept pulling off tackles and helped its team continue forging ahead. U Mumba team carried out a tackle and a raid in the 28th minute and reduced Haryana's lead. Moments later, the U Mumba side levelled the scores at 15-15.

In the 31st minute of the PKL match, U Mumba carried out an All Out and took a three-point lead at 19-16. Rohit Gulia pulled off a fantastic raid in the 33rd minute as Haryana got close to U Mumba's score. However, the U Mumba side kept picking up points and held its lead. Vinay effected a fantastic raid in the 38th minute, but U Mumba stayed in the lead at 22-21.

Haryana kept fighting and stayed in the contest until the last minute of the match. When just 30 seconds were left on the clock, Kandola pulled off a brilliant raid and helped Haryana level the score at 24-24.

Tamil Thalaivas defeated U.P. Yoddha

A complete performance from the raiders and defenders helped Tamil Thalaivas beat U.P Yoddha 39-33 in Match 33 of PKL Season 8. Manjeet (7 points) and substitute Ajinkya Pawar (6 points) were impressive among the raiders for Thalaivas while defenders Sagar (5 points) and Surjeet Singh (3 points) backed them up efficiently. Surender Gill scored 14 points for U.P. Yoddha who could not match the intensity of Tamil Thaliavas on the night.

The first half belonged completely to the team in yellow. Thalaivas dominated the mat with their raiders Manjeet, K. Prapanjan and Bhavani Rajput finding points easily. Yoddha’s much-famed corner duo of Nitesh Kumar and Sumit struggled against the lanky Tamil raiders.

At the other end, Pardeep Narwal had yet another sub-par performance, moving gingerly and getting easily trapped by the defenders. Thalaivas got their first ALL OUT in the 11th minute to open a 6-point gap and went to dominate the closing stages as well. Tamil defenders Surjeet Singh and Sagar had 2 points in a half that ended 21-10 in their favour.

Kabaddi is a game of fine margins and the momentum surprisingly shifted to Yoddha right at the beginning of the second half. Two successive Super Tackles from the combination of Ashu Singh and Shubham Kumar suddenly reduced Thalaivas’ lead.

Surender Gill then got his act together with a 2-point raid. In fact, Surender Gill donned the role of the lead raider while Pardeep struggled to help Yoddha clinch an important ALL OUT in the 8th minute of the half. He secured his Super 10 two minutes later to reduce Thalaivas’ lead to just two points.

Coach Udaya Kumar brought in Ajinkya Pawar for Thalaivas and his quick raid points directed pressure back on Yoddha. Sagar clinched his High 5 in defence as Thalaivas secured their second ALL OUT with 4 minutes remaining. They opened an 8-point lead in the closing stages, but Pardeep Narwal produced a 3-point Super Raid in the final minute to reduce the margin to five. The raid ensured Yoddha got at least one point from the match.

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