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Telugu Titans defeated Gujarat Giants 30-29 in a close encounter to take crucial points in the PKL Season 12 at the SMS Indoor Stadium, Jaipur, on Tuesday. Bharat Hooda's nine points, coupled with Vijay Malik's seven points, negated Mohammadreza Shadloui's super-sub performance to win by the closest of margins.
The Telugu Titans opened the scoring in the very first raid through Vijay Malik. They quickly built on the momentum, adding two more points in the next couple of minutes to take a 3-0 lead. The Gujarat Giants finally found themselves on the scoresheet when Visvanth V produced a successful raid. The Giants still found themselves trailing 2-6, but a strong tackle from Aryavardhan Navale gave them a crucial point and reduced the gap to 3-6. However, the Titans responded immediately, stretching their lead to 7-3 before the first-half timeout was called. The Giants began the second phase positively, earning a point right after the break through a solid tackle from Sumit. This was quickly followed by a successful raid from Aryavardhan Navale, narrowing the gap to 5-7. The Titans, however, struck back immediately with a successful raid of their own to maintain their lead. While the Titans held the advantage, the Giants showed resilience and refused to let the margin grow. Aryavardhan Navale once again came through with a smart raid to make it 9-10, before a strong tackle from Lucky Sharma brought the scores level at 10-10. The Titans responded well in the final minutes of the half, regaining control to go into the break with a 12-10 lead. The Giants made a flying start to the second half, scoring back-to-back points to level the score at 12-12. Mohammadreza Shadloui played a key role after coming on as a substitute, while a brilliant tackle from Rohit Nandal gave the Giants a slender lead. Shadloui continued to dominate, picking up three points within the first three minutes of the half. The Giants' defence also stepped up in style, pulling off a stunning effort to inflict an All Out on the Titans and surge ahead 18-14. The Titans tried to fight back and reduce the deficit, but the Giants held their ground, keeping a two-point cushion as the second-half time-out was called. The Telugu Titans made a strong start after the restart, reducing the gap to 20-21 through a successful raid from Bharat. They soon turned the game around by inflicting an ALL OUT, moving ahead 24-23 with just over six minutes left on the clock. Vijay Malik then added to their momentum with a successful raid that gave the Titans two more points and stretched their lead to three. However, Shadloui struck back for the Giants with a crucial raid, cutting the deficit to 24-26. The Titans, though, were in full flow in the closing stages. They opened up a 5-point lead with just three minutes remaining and held their nerves to seal a hard-fought 30-29 victory. (ANI)
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