UP Yoddha hold Tamil Thalaivas in nail-biting PKL-5 clash

Hosts UP Yoddha finally managed to break their four-match losing streak, holding Tamil Thailavas 33-33 in a nail-biting Zone B clash of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 5 at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday.

Promising raider Rishank Devadiga scored 14 points for the hosts while skipper Ajay Thakur contributed with 10 points for the Thalaivas.

The Yoddhas are still on top of the table in Zone B with 25 points after 10 games whereas Thalaivas are languishing at the bottom of the table with 14 points from six games.

The home team had themselves to blame for squandering their first half lead as the visitors cashed in on another poor effort from the UP defenders to tie the match in the dying minutes.

The hosts started with a 3-0 lead as Rishank scored with a three-point raid in the first minute.

It took the visitors four minutes to register their first point as Vineet Kumar made a successful raid but the Yoddhas didn't take their foot off the pedal and led 7-2 after five minutes.

In the eighth minute, the Yoddhas inflicted an all out to extend their lead to 12-3, thanks to Rishank's super raiding form.

For the Thaliavas, Ajay Kumar was a bit subdued in the first half but Amit Hooda kept their defence going to end the first half trailing 11-19.

The visitors got their act together in the second half as skipper Thakur led from the front to score two raid points in three minutes and reduce the gap to 14-19 after 23 minutes.

Thakur then helped his team inflict an all out in the 24th minute to level the scores at 19-19.

Sensing the danger at yet another loss, home skipper Nitin Tomar scored two points in two minutes but still trailed 21-23 after 29 minutes.

Rishank got the home side back into the game, scoring with a two-point raid as the Yoddhas lead 26-24 after 30 minutes.

Both teams exchanged a couple of raid and tackle points to level the game at 27-27 after 33 minutes.

With less than three minutes to go, the Yoddhas scored a raid and tackle point to lead 32-31 and looked on course to register their first win of the home leg.

But there was still some drama left till the last minute when Vineet Kumar made a successful raid in the dying seconds before the Thalaivas scored a tackle point to tie the match.

--IANS

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