New Delhi: The Telugu Titans secured their place in the top eight after a comprehensive 40-31 win over the Puneri Paltan at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium on Saturday. Vijay Malik led the way with a Super 10 while Shubham Shinde scored his second high five of the season as the Titans confirmed their place in the playoffs.
For Puneri Paltan, Sachin Tanwar scored nine points with defensive contributions from Vaibhav Rabade, Dadaso Pujari and Mohd Amaan. However, that wasn’t enough for her team to get over the finish line.
Both teams wasted no time in setting the pace of the game as Sachin Tanwar and Vijay Malik opened the scoring for their respective teams. Shubham Shinde and Vaibhav Rabade also exchanged tackles before Telugu Titans came out on top with Bharat Hooda scoring a couple of multi-point raids to give his side a five-point lead.
That gave the Titans a chance to credit Shubham Shinde’s third tackle point. A couple of tackles from Ankit and Dadaso Pujari helped Puneri Paltan score a few points, but their backs were against the wall as Vijay Malik and Bharat Hooda continued to pile on the pressure.
The Telugu Titans really started to assert their dominance with a second ALL OUT and Avi Duhan’s second tackle of the game. While the league leaders kept the table moving with raids from Stuwart Singh and tackles from Mohd Amaan and Dadaso Pujari, they couldn’t really make a significant impact to close the gap. With a confident performance in the first half, the Titans had a fifteen point lead and were 26:11 at halftime.
Tackles from Ankit and Vaibhav Rabade early in the second half kept the Titans in the lead. Meanwhile, Shubham Shinde completed his high five with a super tackle and retained the lead. However, the Puneri Paltan showed some determination to fight back.
Sachin found some momentum on the attacking side, while Mohd Amaan contributed with three tackles to help the Paltan secure their first ALL OUT and reduce the deficit to twelve points. Just when it looked like they had found the momentum to force a comeback, Vijay Malik closed the door on them as the Titans captain completed his Super 10.
Despite Puneri Paltan’s best efforts in the second half, they failed in the end. Bharat Hooda kept his 12-point lead intact for most of the second half and gave the Telugu Titans the finishing touches as they eventually prevailed 40-31 to secure a place in the top eight.
