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A moment of brilliance from Nilesh Salunke in the final raid of the game helped the Telugu Titans claim the second win of their home leg against the Haryana Steelers at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Vishakapatnam.
With the Steelers leading 32-31 and only a few seconds left in the game, seasoned campaigner Nilesh Salunke was thrust with the responsibility of leading his team to a victory with the final raid.
Nilesh did indeed pick up a trademark bonus point after which he was enveloped by the Haryana Steelers but he brought all his experience to the fore as he found an opening through which he powered through, collecting three touch points as he got across the mid-line, triggering wild celebrations amongst the fans and his teammates alike.
Earlier, the Titans started off on a fine note as they found an early lead in the game courtesy of a slew of super tackles which fetched them a 20-13 lead into the break. However, that big lead was thwarted by some fine raiding from Monu Goyat and Vikas Kandola, the latter even snatching the lead in the penultimate raid.
The Haryana skipper, in particular, almost orchestrated the Steelers' win with a 12-point outburst but was unfortunate to end up on the losing side. In the end, the Titans reigned supreme, albeit by the skin of their teeth and strengthened their chances to qualify for the playoffs.
In the post-match conference, Rahul Chaudhari, who topped the raid charts with 12-points shed light on the fact that the win was stitched together by both the defence and offence.
" Our whole team played very well in the whole game. Yet, the credit for the win must go to the defenders for plucking the super tackle in the final few minutes and more importantly to Nilesh for the super raid, which ultimately helped us win."
Skipper Vishal Bharadwaj, who was the architect of two of the six super tackles was a happy man in the end and when quizzed on whether the super tackles were the reason the Titans won, he played it down to the overall performance of the team.
"Our defenders were in top form tonight while the raiders also got us some important points. Yesterday (Titans v Jaipur), our defence lacked teeth but today we had a very good game and put pressure on the Haryana raiders." while also adding that their plan to keep Monu quiet in the final few minutes was imperative for their success.
Man of the moment Nilesh Salunke, panting and puffing following his recent outburst smiled when asked about the thoughts that clouded his head before the raid as he said "We needed to collect at least two points since a draw would not have done us any good. After I picked up the bonus point, I went back for a touch point and was lucky to find a gap in the chain tackle".
With his three main men finding form today, coach Sai Prasad was a happy man but did not rule out the fact that tension was certainly in the air before the final raid and spoke in brief about his opinion of the game.
"We had a very good game, a tight game and I thought the defenders could have done much better in the second half. The first half defenders were very good but we were lacking bite in the second half".
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