Hyderabad, Jan 23 (UNI) Haryana Steelers rode on the brilliance of their defence to beat Telugu Titans 37-30 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium here on Monday night.
An outstanding Rahul Sethpal picked up 8 tackle points, and was supported ably by his defensive partner Mohit Nandal (6 tackle points).
Telugu Titans flew to a superb start and had Haryana Steelers scrambling for numbers early on. Haryana Steelers have made it a habit of doing more with less though and so it proved yet again as their defence outlasted the Titans’ desire to inflict an All-Out.
In an electrifying passage of play, Rahul Sethpal pulled down Pawan Sehrawat for three Super Tackles in a row, to not just stave off an All-Out but also lead to a reversal in the scoreline and situation on the mat. They inflicted an All-Out on Telugu Titans to take a 20-11 lead and never looked back.
At the end of the first half, Sethpal by himself had more tackle points than the entire Telugu Titans defence and Haryana Steelers went into the break leading by 12 points.
Haryana Steelers’ brilliant defending kept racking them points through the second half, and just like the first, they relied on an incredible run of Super Tackles to extend their lead. A lacklustre Sehrawat was substituted early in the half as Telugu Titans tried a reset of tactics.
It worked in part as Telugu Titans inflicted an All-Out of their own with three minutes left to cut the lead down to six points. Haryana Steelers played to run down the clock though and saw the game out smartly to take the win.
