Chaudhari, Bhardwaj inspire Telugu Titans to big win over Patna Pirates

An all-round performance by Telugu Titans helped them beat home team Patna Pirates 53-32 at the Patliputra Indoor Stadium on Tuesday to maintain their unbeaten record against the side this season. Rahul Chaudhari managed his first Super 10 of the season, while skipper Vishal Bhardwaj scored his second High 5, to take the team home. 

The match started in an exciting fashion as Pardeep Narwal was sent to the bench in the very first raid of the game. The teams then exchanged points until Patna Pirates opened up a 3-point lead via a successful tackle on Rahul Chaudhari. In return, Bhardwaj Super Tackled Narwal in the 9^th minute to reduce the deficit to one point.

Check out the photos from the match here.

A Nilesh Salunke Super Raid in the 13^th minute put Telugu Titans firmly in the lead as he got rid of Vikas Kale, Vikas Jaglan and Tushar Patil. Chaudhari then inflicted the first All-Out of the game on Patna Pirates in the 15^th minute to take the Telugu Titans’ lead to 7 points with the scores reading 16-9.

Patna Pirates tried coming back into the game, but Telugu Titans kept on getting points at regular intervals to keep their lead intact. With their defence keeping Pardeep Narwal quiet, Chaudhari continued to secure touch points and finished the half with 9 points helping Telugu Titans take a 25-17 lead at halftime.

The second half started with Chaudhari completing his Super 10 as he inflicted a second All-Out on Patna Pirates with a touch on Vijay. Telugu Titans went on building their lead from this point on and increased their lead to 11 points with a 2-point Do-or-Die raid by Chaudhari.

Chaudhari got a Super Raid in the 9^th minute, getting rid of Vijay, Kale and Surender Singh to further increase the lead to 13 points. An Ankle Hold by Bhardwaj on Jaglan helped Telugu Titans inflict a third All-Out on Patna Pirates soon after. In the process, Bharadwaj also completed his High 5.

Visit the matchcentre to relive the contest here.

Jaglan’s performance was a positive for Patna Pirates, as he finished the match just one raid point short of a Super 10. But even he was Super Tackled twice towards the end of the game. A tackle by Bhardwaj on Patil gave Telugu Titans the last point of the game as it ended 53-32 in their favour.

Top Performers

Patna Pirates –

Best Raider: Vikas Jaglan (9 raid points)

Best Defender: Jaideep (2 tackle points)

Telugu Titans –

Best Raider: Rahul Chaudhari (17 raid points)

Best Defender: Vishal Bhardwaj (9 tackle points)