Telugu Titans and Dabang Delhi Shine on Opening Day of PKL Season 11
The opening day of Pro Kabaddi League’s 11th edition saw Telugu Titans and Dabang Delhi emerging as the winners against Bengaluru Bulls and U Mumba respectively. Both clashes were played at the GMCB Indoor Stadium, Gachibowli in Hyderabad on Friday, kickstarting the event which will last for over two months. Pawan Sehrawat headlined the first clash, leading Telugu Titans to a thrilling 37-29 win over the Bulls.
In the second match, held late evening, Dabang Delhi KC started their campaign on a high, registering a fantastic win over U Mumbai by a margin of 36-28. In the opening game, it was Sehrawat who bagged the first raid point and went on to add a couple more for his team. The home team pleased the Hyderabad crowd as the Titans took a lead of three points early on. It was only for a few minutes that Pardeep Narwal and the Bengaluru Bulls fought back and reduced the lead to one point. The thrilling contest continued to weigh more on either side with the Titans and the Bulls not leaving any loose end for each other. After a time-out, the Telugu Titans picked themselves up with Sehrawat leading the charge. When the half-time whistle went out, the Titans, who were being cheered by a packed house, went ahead of the Bulls by nine points as the score line read 20-11.
Post Half-Time
The second half saw Bengaluru Bulls coming out of the blocks much faster and reducing the nine-point lead to a deficit of four points. For the Bulls, Surinder Dehal and Pardeep Narwal looked in fine touch who went all out against the Titans midway through the second phase of the clash. With 10 minutes remaining for the final whistle, the deficit came down to one point, as the score read 24-23.
It was then that the Titans started fighting back. Sehrawat, meanwhile, reached the 10-point mark and had the support of Krishan, Vijay Malik, Sagar, and Ajit Pawar. It was a matter of a few more minutes that the Titans gained their lost momentum back and instantly took a seven-point lead.
Sehrawat also clinched a major milestone during the game as just after completing his Super 10, he breached the mark of 1200 points to become the third player ever in the history of the PKL. It was time for the home-favourites Titans who inflicted an ALL OUT on the Bulls and thwarted their any possible remaining attempt of a comeback as the lead difference stretched to eight points with only a couple of minutes remaining.
