The second match of the evening featured the Chennai Slam and Bengaluru Beast. The contrast between the teams was evident quickly and it wasn’t just the colours.
Chennai in black were full of pace and forceful aggression, lead by Agu and an assured Cammy Carmel. At the other end, Bengaluru in white were relying on teamwork, building up their attack one pass at a time.
Chennai was clearly better, dominating the first quarter with their electrifying skills around the paint. They ran away to a commanding 14 point lead at the end of the first quarter. At 15-29, Bengaluru had plenty to ponder over during the break.
Beast worked hard to stem the tide and managed to reign in Slam from running away with it. The team from Bengaluru had Yashas to thank for their revival. He was 100% on field goals (2/2), a three-pointer attempt and free throws (3/3).
Raghuram and Somveer were combining well too as Bengaluru outscored the Chennai team 27-20 in the second quarter. But at 42-49, Beast was trailing Slam by seven points and despite a much-improved performance in the second quarter, faced some probing questions as they walked into the comfort of the dressing room at the halftime break.
With less than two minutes to play in the third quarter, Slam built up a 12 point lead. But Kaif Zia found a burst of energy to find some form in the lane and score two straight field goals, narrowing the deficit to eight.
Hrishikesh Naidu made a three-pointer stick from the right to bring the game closer at 62-66, but Slam put on a two bucket burst to fire ahead 70-62 at the close of third quarter.
As the final quarter rolled down to just four minutes, Arjun G K scored from the lane to extend Chennai’s advantage to six points at 77-71. With less than 40 seconds on the timer, Chennai called for a final timeout to determine how they could bridge a five-point deficit at 76-81.
Not withstanding that final conversation between Prasanna and her team, it was Chennai Slam that prevailed 83-76 with Gopal being taking the 25,000 reward as the player of the match.
Guess the Lakers players!
