UP Yoddha and Telugu Titans played out a thrilling 20-20 tie in the ProKabaddi League Season-7 second leg.
In a clash between evenly matches sides at the NSCI indoor stadium, the final minute produced unexpected twists and turns.
Siddharth Desai launched into the final raid for Titans, shuffled across the mat forcing the defence to shift positions. Sumit at left corner lost his balance and fell beyond the line.
Siddharth took his time to return, waiting for seconds to run out and at 20-19 his teammates leaped in joy in anticipation of a victory. The mood gripped the team bench, resulting in captain Abozar Mighani rushing in to join the others in the celebrations.
Titans were docked a technical point for jumping the gun, the tie had not finished by then. A review of the decision also did not go in their favour.
Titans suffered a double blow when rival skipper and catching specialist Nitesh Kumar showcased his craft with a a Super Tacke on Siddharth with five minutes left, followed by a successful raid by Shrikant Jadhav for Yoddha as the match raced to a climax, 18-all and 19-all.
Rishank Devadiga and Siddharth are two familiar faces for kabaddi fans at the NSCI, from their U Mumba days and drew cheers even though they were in opposite camps.
The Yoddha defence took time to execute their plan for Siddharth, trapping the big man in the fourth and fifth raids. Ashu Singh and Sumit were involved, getting their target on the left corner and in the middle respectively.
Siddharth tried to break free once, only to be lifted off the mat. His contribution till the break, was four raid points.
Catchers came into focus in the second half, scores level at 11-11 with C. Arun pulling off two tackles for Titans.
Sumit got a grip on Siddharth, then Nitesh Kumar single-handedly caught Rajnish as the tussle for the upper hand intensified.
However, the teams returned with a point each.
The result:
Telugu Titans 20 (Siddharth Desai 5, Farhad Milaghardan 4, Abozar Mighani 4) tied with UP Yoddha 20 (Shrikant Jadhav 4, Amit 4, Nitesh Kumar 4).
U Mumba 32 (Surinder Singh 9, Abhishek Singh 6) bt Gujarat Fortunegiants 20 (G.B. More 3, Ankit 3).
