Captain Ashwal Rai led from the front to fashion Kolkata Thunderbolts’ third win 15-13, 15-8, 9-15, 15-12, 15-10 over Bengaluru Torpedoes in the Rupay Prime Volleyball League at GMC Balayogi Stadium on Saturday.
The brilliant Ashwal had the liberty to essay his trademark spikes thanks to the splendid show by S. Aravindhan and Mohammad Riyazudeen, who were just too good in not only thwarting the rival attacks a few times but also setting up well for Ashwal, Vinit Kumar, Mathew August.
It was a surprisingly disappointing show from Torpedoes as the reliable Ranjit Singh, Lavmeet Kataria, and Varun failed to show the desired coordination at the net.
It was left to the efficacy of Pankaj Sharma and P. Rohit, who were good both in attack and defence, that saw Torpedoes stay in the match, winning the third set after losing the first two.
If Torpedoes thought of a change in fortunes in the fourth set to take the issue into the decider, they were dashed by very strong Thunderbolts attackers.
Thunderbolts took a comfortable 5-1 lead before Pankaj combined power and class to reduce the lead for Torpedoes 4-5.
But again, it was Ashwal and 'man of the match' Vinit Kumar, who were the big difference scoring the big points. Mathew also came good for Thunderbolts despite conceding the super point, when his team lead 11-10, he served into the net and gave a chance for Torpedoes.
But, Aravindhan and Ashwal combined well that there was no way Torpedoes could stop them from scoring points and settle the match in Thunderbolts favour.
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