Presenting the highlights of the final day of the ProKabaddi League Inter-Zone Challenge action at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Vizag.
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35-31 Nilesh Salunke walks in for a Do-or-Die raid with one second remaining on the clock. The mat saw an absolute madness in the dying seconds of the contest as Salunke picked up a Super-Raid to settle the contest in favour. Telugu Titans leaps into the third place and might as well make it easily to the Playoffs now.
32-30 A Do-or-Die raid and there is a super tackle opportunity as well. But, the fighter Monu has been pushed off limits.
30-30 Rahul Chaudhari has been pulled back as he manages to steal the bonus. 1-all.
29-29 Here comes the leveller. Monu Goyat takes the right corner as well. In the last five minutes, Steelers: Titans has been 10:0. That is incredible!
29-28 What is happening? Monu Goyat has picked up a Super 10 as he dismisses Abozar who was horribly out of position.
29-25 Well! Well! Well! Monu Goyat drags the defenders out as an All Out has been inflicted. Just a four point cushion now. That's one good twist in the tale considering there is less than four minutes to go?
29-21 Monu Goyat has a go at Vishal Bhardwaj. He believes he has stolen a point but Vishal doesn't agree. However, a point has been gifted to the visitor by the referee.
29-19 Fifth Super-Tackle of the evening for the Titans as Naveen gets pinned down on to the mat. Titans celebrating was a rare sight to behold until its last match.
27-19 Steelers' man of the season, Vikas Kandola walks in for a Do-or-Die raid. A switch in position of the defenders confuses the star raider as he ends up gifting a Super-Tackle to Titans.
25-17 A Do-or-Die raid to be taken by Rahul Chaudhari, with the bonus on offer as well. The right cover Monu Goyat doesn't do enough to hold the poster boy back as he sends the crowd cheering with that touch point yet again.
24-17 "Rahul, Rahul" is the day's anthem as he continues to feed off from the home energy.
24-15 Rahul Chaudhari is happy to pick up a point as he literally, and believe every word I say, picks a defender and carries him across.
21-16 Rahul Chaudhari is on song and Meghani wouldn't like to take his foot off the gas here. Steals a bonus again. The home crowd is going bonkers here with each move!
20-15 Rahul Chaudhari is on 785 career raid points, six of those coming tonight. Empty raid!
20-13 All seven on the mat for the Steelers as Salunke walks in. He does not want to take the risk.
Steelers cannot make it to the Playoffs mathematically anymore, but wouldn't the side want to pick up a consolation prize here?
20-13 HT: The first twenty minutes have been all about the Telugu Titans and Rahul Chaudhari who already has eight points in his kitty now. What comes as a surprise is how good he has been defensively tonight as well, the super-tackle his alibi.
20-11 Nilesh Salunke pinches the bonus point says the wicked smile he flashes to his mates. Decides to waste the remaining time of the raid.
18-10 An All Out has been inflicted on the Haryana Steelers. Rahul Chaudhari is brimming with energy as he is surely bringing it on tonight. Two points there from the raid. And two for the All Out.
13-8 Now the Steelers has a chance to inflict a Super Tackle of its own. Farhad doesn't have to worry much since it is not a Do-or-Die situation.
9-8 Rahul Chaudhari looks a bit hesitant as he goes for an empty raid. He is on the lookout for a Super-Tackle moment most probably.
This comes just after a brilliant show of defense from him as he had floored Kandola. From Raid Machine to Tackle Machine next season, maybe?
6-7 Kandola uses Anuj as a pommel horse there! Easy pickings.
3-3 Rahul Chaudhari is greeted with roars. He gets a bit flat footed as he tries escaping but a genius of a defensive show from Kuldeep has him down. A combination tackle there!
3-2 Vikas Kandola has been the Steelers' man this season. He is the one with the maximum number of raids but this time he doesn't try much as he goes for a hasty empty raid.
3-1 Nilesh Salunke comes in and picks up a point. That is a pacy start to things as far as the last match is concerened.
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In the second clash of the night, the home side will look to bag a win and stay in contention for the Playoffs. They would be eagerly looking forward to climb the rungs leapfrogging Bengal Warriors in the process.
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24-37 FT: Sunil Siddhgavali gets one point and keeps the Panthers still in the hunt for Playoffs. Ajay Thakur has it all written large on his face. You have got to feel for the big man.
24-36 Super Tackle! Jaipur Pink Panthers finally takes care of Victor. At the end, he is human too.
23-34 Where has Victor Obiero been all this while? Why didn't he start for the Thalaivas? Audience goes "Victor! Victor!" as he has managed to notch up five points from four raids. Deepak Hooda is flabbergasted!
19-34 Nothing is making sense about the Thalaivas' defence as of now. Deepak Hooda runs in and gets the touch point on offer. As the Panthers uses the electricity, Thalaivas pays the bill.
19-30 Victor gets a freebie in the form of a bonus. Makes no sense giving away points like that.
18-30 Jaipur Pink Panthers has inflicted an All Out! Where has this form been all season? Jasvir has a wry smile pasted on his lips. He knows what's coming in less than five minutes from now.
16-25 A Do-or-Die raid to be taken by Deepak Hooda. A fantastic tactical genius on display yet again. Deepak goes for the left corner, gets him and he can do nothing but watch. As the right cover tries to drag him back, Deepak effortlessly manages to cross the line.
16-23 A little over nine minutes to go into the game and as Ajinkya Pawar walks in you can hear the audience go "Super-Raid" echoing the DJ's chant. Empty Raid!
16-23 Ajay Thakur's been eliminated and taken off the mat yet again. Almost a replay of his last raid. This time too, Selvam holds him back as he tried going for the line. Thakur is just one point short of 700 career raid points now.
13-21 Manjeet Chillar has been sent for the Do-or-Die raid. Why would you do that should be the question, but that's clearly the pressure talking. And as expected, another point has been gifted to the Panthers.
13-20 Hedge has not been sent on the bench for even once tonight. Has maintained a good strike-rate also.
12-19 The bonus line has mostly been Sukesh Hedge's buddy tonight. But this time, he goes, "why not?" as he steals a touch point too.
10-18 Crafty move from Ajinkya Pawar in the Do-or-Die raid as he makes the defender believe he would go for the midriff as he switches angle to get a toe touch. Leaves the defence baffled!
10-17 That is the Half-Time. Deepak Hooda's superhuman raid is clearly the highlight of the first twenty minutes. But let me tell you, this game can go anywhere from here. We have seen seven-point leads withering down multiple times at the wink of an eye this season itself.
10-17 Deepak Nivas Hooda swears by the mat as he claims a tag on Jasvir.
A minute later, the review makes me go, what was Deepak Nivas Hooda thinking? That is like two feet away. Has me bamboozled! Why would he review something like that?
8-16 A five-point raid has me screaming from the inside! SUPER-RAID! ALL OUT! What about that for a game changer? Wrecks the Thalaivas lineup. Wat was Hedge doing? Deepak Nivas Hooda effortlessly walks out of that confused defence who can just stare at each other for now. Three touch points. Two points for the All Out.
8-8 Sandeep takes care of the outstretched hand as Ajay Thakur tries to reach for the mid-line in the Do-or-Die raid.
8-7 Empty Raid! Ajay Thakur needs to find his 'partner-in-crime'. He needs someone to support him throughout. The man literally has had no one to bring him back from the bench this season.
4-3 Empty Raid! Sukesh Hedge has not been at his best this season. He has just managed to bag 15 points in the last five games. There were times when he had managed to bag nine raid points from two encounters.
4-3 When you just thought that this will be the first super-raid of the day, Amanjeet Singh gets into the mix as Arun plays anchor in pulling Anand Patil back. Inches it was!
3-2 Sunil gets his body in the way of Hooda and throws him out. What a short block! The defense seems lethal at this point.
2-1 Deepak Nivas Hooda has not had a good season. Can be termed a technical flaw considering how Jaipur wants him to double up as a defender as well. He might as well be used as just the primary raider like Pardeep Narwal, maybe?
1-0 Jasvir Singh walks in to a roar from the crowd. He oozes confidence and with a perfect show of agility, gets a running touch point.
0-0 And as usual Deepak Hooda is the first one to walk in from the Panthers side. Doesn't do much.
Tamil Thalaivas wins the toss, takes the choice of court.
If Jaipur Pink Panthers loses this clash, it will be mathematically impossible for it to make it to the Playoffs.
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In the first contest, both Tamil Thalaivas and Jaipur Pink Panthers are currently chasing a Playoffs berth, the latter still to play its home leg. The two teams last faced off in the last season where, despite Ajay Thakur’s 13-point effort, Jaipur Pink Panthers pipped the Thalaivas 27-26.
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