Needing a win to remain in the fray for a semi-final berth, Telugu Titans today routed Bengaluru Bulls 40-22 in a Pro Kabaddi league match here today.
The Titans won the match with the help of two all-outs, one in each half.
It was a team effort spearheaded by the low-profile Sukesh Hegde who contributed eight points with good support from the defence.
When the team was facing an all-out with only Meraj Sheykh and Manoj Kumar remaining on court, the former caught rival captain Surjeet Narwal. This super tackle was followed by another one from Manoj Kumar on Pawan Kumar and helped avert the all-out.
From 4-5 down, the Titans came back roaring into the match to lead 8-5 from where they never looked back.
With their fifth win today, Telugu Titans now have 27 points. This was Bengaluru Bulls' eighth defeat in 10 matches in the season.
Bengaluru Bulls raised visions of a fight as they matched their superior opponents point for point till the ninth minute and had they forced the all-out, things might have turned out to be different.
Sukesh Hegde, Rohit Baliyan and Rohit Kumar, who came in with the third super tackle of the match, ensured that the Telugu Titans led 18-10 at the break with the all-out being affected in the 18th minute.
But surprisingly, their star Rahul Chaudhari disappointed today.
The second session saw the trend continue with Sukesh Hegde maintaining his success rate. Finally, the big moment arrived for Rahul Chaudhari when he got his first point, that too a bonus in the 22nd minute. His poor form and that of Dharmaraj Cheralathan will be a source of worry for the Telugu Titans.
The second all-out on Bengaluru Bulls came in the 31st minute with the score reading 31-14 following two successful raids by Sukesh Hegde.
From then on it was just a matter of time for the Telugu Titans as the outcome became very clear. Sukesh Hegde ended with eight points. Rohit Kumar had six and all-rounder Meraj Sheykh had five with one super tackle. Surjeet Narwal ended with seven but most of them came towards the end when all was lost.
