PKL 2023-24: Siddharth Desai and Vinay shine as Haryana Steelers record first win, UP Yoddhas beat Telugu Titans

PKL 2023-24: Siddharth Desai and Vinay shine as Haryana Steelers record first win, UP Yoddhas beat Telugu Titans

The Haryana Steelers produced a clinical performance to register a 38-32 victory over the Bengaluru Bulls at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday. Vinay (8 points) and Siddharth Desai (7 points) were the stars for the Steelers as the Bulls faced their fourth consecutive loss this season.

Bharat pulled off a SUPER RAID and took out Siddharth Desai, Mohit Nandal, Jaideep Dahiya, Rahul Sethpal and Mohit in the first minute of the match as the Bulls raced away with a 5-0 lead. However, Vinay picked up a few raid points and Jaideep Dahiya carried out a SUPER TACKLE on Bharat to help the Steelers clinch the lead at 8-6 in the 7th minute. Soon after, the Steelers inflicted an ALL OUT and took a massive lead at 12-6.

The Steelers continued to put relentless pressure on the Bulls and stayed in complete control of the game at 15-7 in the 11th minute. Vinay kept picking up raid points as the Steelers kept forging ahead. Siddharth Desai effected a double-point raid and helped his team inflict another ALL OUT in the 18th minute. The Steelers went into the break leading at 26-13.

The Bulls tackled Vinay in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Steelers still held a comfortable lead at 29-15 in the 24th minute. The home side inflicted an ALL OUT in the 31st minute, however, the Haryana side continued to dominate the scoreline at 31-24. The home side tried to forge a comeback through the efforts of defenders Saurabh Nandal and Parteek, but the Steelers also kept scoring points in tandem. The Haryana side ensured that they stayed in the lead for the rest of the game and eventually walked off the mat as the winners of the match.

UP Yoddhas beat Telugu Titans to record second straight win

Led by a rampaging Surender Gill, the UP Yoddhas beat the Telugu Titans 48-33 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday. Gill (14) and Titans’ superstar Pawan Sehrawat (11) both got super 10s, in a high-scoring second game of the day.

The clash had been billed as one between the leading raiders of both teams, Pardeep Narwal and Pawan Sehrawat, two men who have been the top-scoring raiders over the past four seasons of the PKL. As it was, Sehrawat was tackled on his very first raid of the evening, allowing the Yoddhas to draw first blood. The Yoddhas capitalised on that brilliantly and inflicted the first ALL OUT soon after to race into a 10-3 lead.

Not to be outdone by the higher-profile raiders on either side of him, Surender Gill took it upon himself to take charge of the game. His SUPER RAID to take out Ankit and Milad Jabbari helped the Yoddhas take a huge lead. The Titans clawed some of it back, as the half wore on. Milad’s SUPER TACKLE got rid of Gill for the first time in the evening and the teams went into the break with the Titans down by 4 points.

Despite some dogged defending by the Titans duo of Mohit and Milad, the Yoddhas inflicted a second ALL OUT to take a nine-point lead with ten minutes of the game left. Thereafter, the Yoddhas ensured that the Titans did not get any sniff at a comeback. With two minutes to go, a third ALL OUT followed as the Titans faced their third consecutive defeat.