Tamil Thalaivas and Gujarat Giants share the points after tense tie

Tamil Thalaivas and Gujarat Giants fought neck-to-neck throughout the game as match 5 of vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 9 ended in a 31-31 tie at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday. Tamil Thalaivas had debutant Narender register a Super 10 while Rakesh scored 13 points for Gujarat Giants.

Tamil Thalaivas and Gujarat Giants were off the blocks quickly with Rakesh and Narender picking up the first points for their sides. Both teams then held firm with their defensive units and weren’t taking too many chances in their raids. The Giants rode on Rakesh and Chandran Ranjit’s points and took the lead at the midway stage of the first half. 

The Thalaivas turned to Himanshu, Narender and Ajinkya Pawar for impetus, while the Giants looked to build on their lead. Rakesh and Ranjit continued to lead the charge for the Giants, while in the other corner, Sahil Gulia was outstanding in marshalling the defence for the Thalaivas. At the halfway stage, the Giants led 18-16 in what was turning out to be a spicy contest.  

The Thalaivas began the second half with the stellar Narender continuing to perform well before M Abishek’s tackle gave them their first All-Out, and subsequently the lead. The early exchanges of the second essay was a quiet affair with Korean Dong Geon also registering his first point.  

The Thalaivas were starting to up the ante after the early lull but found the Giants tough to break down. Nonetheless, Narender wasn’t perturbed and kept chipping away to give his team a 3-point lead with just over 9 minutes to go.  

Abishek was holding firm in defence while Narender went on to get his Super 10 on debut as the Thalaivas were motoring along. With just under 5 minutes in the game, the Giants needed to overturn a 4-point lead. Rakesh then suddenly went through the gears in the final minutes, picking up crucial raid points and dragging the Giants back into the game as both sides were tied 31-31 with less than a minute to go. Eventually, the teams treaded carefully and settled for a 31-31 tie.

Top Performers

Gujarat Giants

Best Raider - Rakesh (13 Raid Points)

Best Defender - Sourav Gulia (2 Tackle Points)

Tamil Thalaivas

Best Raider - Narender (10 Raid Points)

Best Defender - Sahil Gulia (4 Tackle Points)

Where to watch vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 9 LIVE?

Catch all the LIVE action from vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 9 on the Star Sports Network and LIVE streaming on Disney+Hotstar.