Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: The five best matches from the Hyderabad leg
With the first leg of Season 5 of the Pro Kabaddi League finally done and dusted, it is time for the teams to take a breather before the caravan moves onto Nagpur. Hyderabad played host for this first stop with the home side, the Telugu Titans featuring on every single match day.
We also had a chance to look at all four of the new teams that are making their debuts this season. As we recap the Hyderabad leg, we look at the five best matches from the action so far.
#5 Telugu Titans vs Patna Pirates, Match 11 - Pirates won 43-36
Could Rahul Chaudhari level the scores against Pardeep Narwal and the Pirates?
On the last day of the Hyderabad leg, all eyes were once again on the men in yellow. Since suffering their first defeat of the season, the Titans had gotten badgered by each and every team - suffering four straight losses in the process. They were looking to finish their home leg on a high and avoid a fifth consecutive loss.
Standing across them were the Patna Pirates once again.
Pardeep Narwal had won the battle of the star raiders in the first meeting between these two sides, outshining the Titans' Rahul Chaudhari. Yet, he didn't have to get out of second gear at all in that match. In Thursday's encounter, however, the Titans came prepared with clear plans for Pardeep and the Patna captain responded by raising his game.
The Titans got Pardeep out early a couple of times to which the MVP of season four responded with some high-quality raids. He scored with toe touches, with a jump over defenders, with a quick change of direction and even by pure brute force in one instance where he brushed aside the challenge of Vishal Bharadwaj.
He scored in so many ways that exhausted the Titans defence and with Monu Goyat ably supporting him, the Pirates put down a beating on the home side, holding a 17-point lead at one stage with 14 minutes to go in the match.
Yes, the Titans made a late comeback with Rahul getting a Super 10 with a flurry of points at the end. However, the match was long gone by then with Round Two of the battle between Rahul Chaudhari and Pardeep Narwal once again going in the latter's favour. Pardeep finished with 12 points while Monu Goyat had 10 in a match that saw a total of 79 points being scored overall.