PKL 2019, Jaipur Pink Panthers vs Tamil Thalaivas: V Ajith Kumar shines with Super 10 in Thalaivas win over Pink Panthers
A struggling Tamil Thalaivas side finally managed to put an end to their losing streak in Pro Kabaddi 2019 as they registered a 35-33 win against the Jaipur Pink Panthers in the 127th fixture played at Greater Noida's Shaheed Vijay Singh Patik Sports Complex.
V Ajith Kumar emerged as the top raider of the encounter as he picked up 10 points in 18 raids. Deepak Narwal collected 8 raid points for the Pink Panthers, while on the defensive front, Amit Hooda picked up a High 5 for the inaugural season champions.
Rahul Chaudhari picked up the first point for the Thalaivas with a rapid bonus point before the following raid saw Ran Singh being sent off the mat by Amit Hooda that opened the account for the Pink Panthers.
With nothing to lose for both the teams, both the teams opted for a fearless approach in the game and seven minutes into the game, the Pink Panthers had a slender 6-5 lead which was then immediately brought to a deadlock, courtesy of a commendable tackle from M. Abishek.
The two teams dealt a blow for blow and with just two minutes left for the first half to end, the Pink Panthers were dealt with an All-Out that gave the Thalaivas a handy seven-point lead. The first half concluded with the Tamil Thalaivas on the front foot with a 19-14 lead, and the onus was indeed on V. Ajith Kumar to lead the way for his side in the second half.
Rahul Chaudhari kick-started the second half for the Thalaivas on an impressive note after inflicting a running hand-touch on Lokesh Kaushik, which was immediately followed by a power-packed raid by Deepak Narwal.
With just ten minutes remaining on the clock, the Thalaiavas barely edged ahead with a two-point lead and with both teams picking up points consistently, predicting the winner of this clash was certainly turning out to be an arduous task.
A two-pointer by Ajith helped the youngster complete his Super 10 as he single-handedly kept the Thalaivas in the game with his mature raiding. Soon, with just 30 seconds left on the clock, both the sides were separated by just a single point.
Eventually, the Tamil Thalaivas won the thrilling contest by a 35-33 margin, which also saw the Pink Panthers finishing their PKL 2019 campaign with a loss.
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