Deshwal scores career-best 26 to help Tamil Thalaivas beat Patna Pirates in PKL

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Chennai, Oct 7 (PTI) Arjun Deshwal starred with a career-best 26 points as Tamil Thalaivas signed off their home leg with a dominant 56-37 win over Patna Pirates in the Pro Kabaddi League here on Tuesday.

It was a night to remember for Deshwal, who notched up his 71st Super 10 — the third most in PKL history — to headline a dominant show by the hosts.

Nitesh Kumar also completed his High Five on the night, while Narender Kandola and Aashish chipped in with six and five points respectively.

Their 56 points was also the most by a team in a match this season.

For Patna Pirates, Ayan Lohchab and Ankit Rana registered Super 10s that was not enough for their side.

The two main raiders - Deshwal and Lohchab - got off to quick starts to open the account for their respective sides. It was the latter who imposed himself on the Tamil Thalaivas defence first, securing a Super Raid to open up a slender gap between the two sides.

Ankit Rana also chipped in for the Pirates, keeping them in the driver's seat initially.

Aashish and Himanshu kept the hosts within touching distance but they eventually surrendered the first ALL OUT of the match, courtesy a tackle by Navdeep, giving the Pirates a four-point opening.

Despite the setback, the Thalaivas stayed in the hunt with the score at 13-11 after the opening 10 minutes.

It didn't take the home side long to turn the tables though. Nitesh Kumar and Aashish combined for a couple of tackles to level the score at 14-14 before the former got a tackle to extract revenge with an ALL OUT for the Thalaivas, giving them a four-point lead.

Deshwal further extended that lead, finding his groove and completing his eighth Super 10 of the season.

For the Pirates, Ankit Rana kept them in the game with a couple of raids but the momentum for the home side couldn't be hampered. By the end of the first half, Tamil Thalaivas had stamped their authority on the game with their second ALL OUT, establishing a commanding 11-point lead with the score at 30-19.

Rana completed his Super 10, helping his team reduce the deficit to nine points and giving the Pirates an opening at the start of the second half.

However, Narender Kandola emerged with a successful do-or-die raid, followed by a tackle from Arulnanthababu to ensure Tamil Thalaivas stay in control of the proceedings.

Meanwhile, Lohchab also registered his Super 10 as his team continued to fight.

With the Thalaivas in control, Nitesh Kumar completed his fifth High Five of the season, while Deshwal continued to keep his foot on the pedal with their side having a 14-point advantage with close to eight minutes to play.

His side executed their third ALL OUT of the game, courtesy a tackle by Aashish, and the writing was on the wall thereafter. PTI SSC SSC ATK