PKL 2018, Steelers vs Thalaivas, Ajay Thakur and Monu Goyat shine as the sides share the spoils
Pro Kabaddi League Season 6 resumed action after a day's break as the Tamil Thalaivas took to the mat against the Haryana Steelers at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium in Kolkata.
The two sides played for pride after being lodged at the bottom spot in their respective zones and hoped to end the season with a positive result. Tamil Thalaivas came into the match on the back of a six-match winless streak with four losses and two drawn matches. Haryana Steelers were in a similar poor run of form with four losses on the trot and came into this match with the aim of ending their season on a high.
The first half of the match saw the two sides compete in a closely-fought affair with momentum oscillating between the two teams. Tamil Thalaivas' young raider Anand looked in fine touch, picking up raid points in do-or-die raid situations.
On the other side, Naveen did his part to score in do-or-die raids to keep things close on the scoreboard. Anand put in two key raids towards the end of the first half and reduced the Steelers to just one man at the end of the first half. The Tamil Thalaivas led 16-14 at the end of the first half of the match.
Tamil Thalaivas began the second half of the match looking to extend their lead on the scoreboard. Ajay Thakur and Monu Goyat put in splendid raids in the second half as the score stayed close throughout the match.
A moment of brilliance from Sunil saw him get Ajay Thakur out with a sneaky tackle setting the stage for Vikas Khandola to level things up on the board in the end. The sides shared the spoils on the night as the score showed 40-40 at the final buzzer.
Here are the player ratings for this clash:
Haryana Steelers
Monu Goyat - (8.5/10)
The Haryana Steelers' skipper took some time to get going but managed to pick up four raid points, including a couple of bonus points and had one tackle point in the first half as well. He continued his momentum in the second half and picked up a couple of two-point raids and got to his Super 10.
Vikas Khandola - (8/10)
The diminutive raider was kept in check by the Tamil Thalaivas defence in the first half and picked up a couple of raid points including one bonus point. He was in fine form in the second half, getting to his Super 10 in the final raid of the match.
Naveen - (4/10)
The do-or-die raid man for the Haryana Steelers, Naveen was clinical in his raiding tonight. He finished with three raid points on the night.
Mayur Shivtarkar - (3/10)
The all-rounder had a poor time in the cover defence position failing to put in effective dashes on the Tamil Thalaivas' raiders.
Sunil - (5/10)
The right corner of the Haryana Steelers was guilty of putting in mistimed tackles and conceded a lot of points. However, he got the all-important tackle on Ajay Thakur in the end as the Steelers stole a draw from the jaws of defeat.
Parveen - (6/10)
The burly cover defender was in fine form tonight, scoring four tackle points in the first half with his strong dashes and got one Super Tackle as well. He was a strong support in the defence in the second half but finished just shy of a High 5.
Kuldeep Singh - (4/10)
Kuldeep Singh operated on the left corner and looked out of touch tonight, failing to lock in ankle holds on the raiders. He finished with one tackle point on the night.
Substitutes:
Prateek - (3/10)
The youngster came off the bench in the second half and picked up one bonus point as the last raider on the mat.