Tamil Thalaivas registered their first home win since Season 6 in 2018, completing an absolute demolition against the defending champions to register a 45-33 win against Haryana Steelers in front of a packed house in Season 12 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) at the SDAT Multi Purpose Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Friday.
Arjun Deshwal led the charge with an epic 22-point performance, while Nitesh Kumar also contributed with four tackles. Meanwhile, Jaideep Dahiya’s High Five and Vishal Tate’s Super 10 went down in vain for Haryana Steelers.
It was an action-packed start to the game with the defending champions coming off the blocks quickly. Sahil Narwal got the first points on the board with a tackle on Arjun Deshwal, and Vinay followed it up with a quick raid. The Thalaivas came back with Rohit Beniwal scoring their first points, and Nitesh Kumar wasting no time to make his presence felt with a tackle on Vinay.
The two captains, Arjun Deshwal and Jaideep Dahiya, also got themselves on the scoresheet in the early exchanges, with not much to separate the two sides. However, the Haryana Steelers captain soon registered two Super Tackles within the first ten minutes, giving his side a three-point lead with Shivam Patare also contributing.
With a successful Do-Or-Die Raid, Arjun Deshwal kept his team within striking distance with contributions on the defensive end from Nitesh Kumar, Himanshu, and Ronak. Despite that, the Haryana Steelers managed to hold onto their advantage courtesy their captain leading the way with a High Five in the first half, clinging on to a two-point lead with the score at 15-13.
The hosts started the second half in rampant fashion, levelling the game at 15-15 before it soon turned into the Arjun Deshwal show. After only scoring three points in the first half, the Raiders scored nineteen points in the second.
He helped his team register the first All Out of the game, giving Tamil Thalaivas a three-point lead. Tackles from Aashish and Nitesh Kumar further stretched that lead, and their captain made the most of that momentum to bag the first Super Raid of the game as well.
He soon completed his Super 10 in style, inflicting a second All Out on the Haryana Steelers within ten minutes, taking a commanding ten-point lead in the process. There was no stopping him as he kept racking up raids for fun, giving his team a 34-21 lead with under nine minutes to go.
With the Chennai crowd backing him, he continued to pile on the misery with a third All Out on the defending champions. As a result, the Tamil Thalaivas outscored their opponents by 18-6 in the third quarter, taking complete control of the game.
There was a bit of respite for the Haryana Steelers as Vishal Tate bagged a massive four-point raid. That helped his team eventually register their first All Out, closing the gap to 41-30 with under three minutes to go in the game.
Despite Vishal completing his Super 10, his side couldn’t quite close the massive deficit as Arjun Deshwal amassed 21 points on the night, leading the way for his side in a memorable 45-33 victory. This was Tamil Thalaivas' first home win since PKL 6 in 2018.