Puneri Paltan Vs Tamil Thalaivas 15 December 2022

Puneri Paltan book their spot in the mega-final against the Panthers, all thanks to Pankaj Mohite and his stunning raids. Tamil Thalaivas, on the other hand, went through a lot of difficult periods at the start, but once Ashan Kumar took over the reins, they were unstoppable and truly magical. As I said before, they won millions of hearts with their Kabaddi and they also produced so many memorable moments for the fans to remember

Right then! The two best teams in the league phase would go hammer and tongs in the blockbuster final in Mumbai. Join us at 7:00 pm IST to catch all the LIVE updates on Saturday, until then, this is Pragadeesh signing off  

FT: Puneri Paltan 39-37 Tamil Thalaivas

In a game where everyone thought that the Paltan would struggle without their star raiders Mohit Goyat and Aslam Inamdar, Pankaj Mohite rose to the occasion in the second half as his successful raids sucked all the momentum the Thalaivas gathered in the first 20 minutes.

His height and his canny raids proved too hot to handle for the in-form Thalaivas' defense as Pankaj picked up 16 raid points. The Thalaivas had firm control and took a 6-point lead in the first half but Pankaj Mohite took matters into his own hands and single-handedly produced the goods for Puneri Paltan. 

Puneri Paltan did a clean-up act in the 28th minute and the lead was still in favor of the Thalaivas by one point. It was neck and neck until the 33rd minute but Pankaj's magical multi-point raids coupled with some defensive brilliance helped the Paltan to inflict the second all-out in the 37th minute. The Thalaivas fought hard and produced some miracles in the dying moments throughout this PKL, but they couldn't do anything once the all-out was inflicted as they capitulated by two points in the end

40' Puneri Paltan are slowing things down. Fazel Atrachali takes the buzzer raid and he is happy to run the clock out

Tamil Thalaivas 37-39 Puneri Paltan

Puneri Paltan have one foot in the finals already

Ajinkya Pawar has been tackled by Nabibakhsh. He goes low and gets hold of his ankles to pin him down

Tamil Thalaivas 34-38 Puneri Paltan

38' Akash Shinde goes for the do-or-die raid and picks up a bonus up a bonus

38' Fazel is on his way to the bench as his loose block is not good enough to tackle Narender

Narender picks up a raid point in under 10 seconds as he takes out Khatri with a toe touch. Can the Thalaivas recover from this setback in the dying moments?

37' ALL OUT! Narender picks up a bonus but the cover defenders run across and dashed him out of bounds. Is this the final nail in the coffin?

Tamil Thalaivas 31-36 Puneri Paltan

Will Narender save the Thalaivas from an all-out?

36' Another multi-point raid from Pankaj Mohite as the Thalaivas are reduced to one now

Tamil Thalaivas 30-33 Puneri Paltan

Ajinkya Pawar has been tackled as Fazel goes low and gets hold of his body

Both coaches look very animated in the time-out. 

Puneri Paltan looked down in the first half but they aren't going out without a fight. The Thalaivas are down to four and if the Paltan find a way to inflict an all-out soon, that could be match-defining.

Tamil Thalaivas 30-30 Puneri Paltan

TIME OUT!

Two successful raids from both teams and it's all square at the moment, with 5 minutes left in the contest

33' MULTI-POINT RAID FROM PANKAJ. Puneri Paltan take a lead for the first time in this contest

Tamil Thalaivas 28-29 Puneri Paltan

Both teams are exchanging blows. Narender takes a quick raid and gets a toe touch on Khatri before Pankaj Mohite takes out Abishek with a side kick

30' Ajinkya Pawar gets a running hand touch and sends Sanket Sawant to the bench

This is an emphatic fightback from Puneri Paltan and that all-out breaks this game wide open. What will happen in the final 10 minutes? This could go down to the final minute, final seconds and who knows there could be a tie-breaker as well to determine the winner

TIME OUT!

30' Akash Shinde gets a bonus in the do-or-die raid

Tamil Thalaivas 26-25 Puneri Paltan

30' Abinesh's dash wasn't successful this time as Pawar uses the lobby to get back to the mid-line

29' IT'S THAT DEADLY IRANIAN COMBINATION AGAIN. Fazel and Nabibakhsh with a proper chain to tackle Narender straightaway after inflicting an all-out

28' ALL OUT! Puneri Paltan does a clean-up act and reduces the deficit to just one point

Tamil Thalaivas 24-23 Puneri Paltan

Here comes the surrender raid and Sachin takes it. He can only pick up a bonus not a touch point

27' The Thalaivas are reduced to two at the moment. Nabibakhsh gets a running hand touch but Himanshu dashed him out of bounds. The umpire awards a point in favor of the Paltan. The Thalaivas take a review but it's deemed unsuccessful

27' Puneri Paltan are rising in the DO-OR-DIE RAIDS. An error comes from Arpit Saroha gifted Akash Shinde a point before the defense tackled Ajinkya Pawar

Tamil Thalaivas 23-19 Puneri Paltan

Both teams are happy to play in the do-or-die raids

Pankaj Mohite reduces the Thalaivas to three by taking out Sahil Gulia in the do-or-die raid

Tamil Thalaivas 22-17 Puneri Paltan

22' Puneri Paltan are playing in the do-or-die raid. Here comes Narender. He attempts a dubki to escape Fazel's chain but his attempt was unsuccessful

The second half gets underway. Akash Shinde has been tackled instantly as Sahil Gulia runs around to dash him out of bounds

We have already seen and admired Tamil Thalaivas enough since Ashan Kumar had taken over the reins. Now, they are 20 minutes away from creating history. 

Puneri Paltan 15-21 Tamil Thalaivas

The Thalaivas have continued from where they left off in the previous match as they were fearless in the first five minutes. Narender picked up a multi-point raid to set the tone but Puneri Paltan attempted a few successful tackles to avoid an all-out inside the first 10 minutes but the inevitable happened in the 13th minute.

Pankaj Mohite picked up quick raid points but the Thalaivas still hold a 6-point lead in the first 20 minutes. This could go down to the wire, so don't go anywhere as we find out what happens in the final 20 minutes

19' ARPIT SAROHA ARRIVES TO THE PARTY! Pankaj Mohite went deep into Arpit Saroha's side and he didn't show any mercy as he comes up with a brilliant thigh hold

19' Himanshu Singh has been tackled in the do-or-die raid. Who else? Once again the cover combination Abinesh and Sanket as the duo runs across and blocks the raider before dashing him out of bounds

18' SUPER TACKLE! The Thalaivas aren't ready to give up yet. Himanshu Singh dives into Pankaj Mohite and gets hold of his ankle brilliantly

Puneri Paltan 14-19 Tamil Thalaivas

Pankaj Mohite has taken a new avatar after the all-out as he comes up with a vicious side kick to send Ajinkya Pawar to the bench. The Thalaivas are reduced to three

16' Puneri Paltan are fighting it back as Pankaj Mohite extends his right arm and gets a touch point 

15' Pankaj Mohite takes out the cover defenders Mohit and Abishek before Khatri tackles Narender with a solid ankle hold

Puneri Paltan 12-16 Tamil Thalaivas

14' Akash Shinde runs around to the left but Sahil Gulia goes low and tackles him with a stunning thigh hold

13' ALL OUT! Fazel is not in the mood to gift a point. He retreats but Narender takes him out with a touch point

Puneri Paltan 9-15 Tamil Thalaivas

12' Aditya Shinde has been tackled easily and here comes the surrender raid

Puneri Paltan are down to two but Ajinkya Pawar returns empty-handed

11' Both teams are exchanging blows. Akash Shinde has been tackled but he thinks that he touched the mid-line. Huge moment in the game as almost everyone from the Thalaivas was involved in the tackle. It was a proper chain from Himanshu and Sahil Gulia before the support comes at the right time. He is fingertip away from taking everyone out.

10' SUPER TACKLE! Gaurav Khatri pulls off a successful solo tackle as his ankle hold was too strong for Narender

Puneri Paltan 9-9Tamil Thalaivas

Two quick points from the Thalaivas as the Paltan are reduced to three again

8' Mohit's dash was unsuccessful on this occasion as Nabibakhsh uses the lobby to get back to the mid-line

Puneri Paltan 7-7 Tamil Thalaivas

7' Sanket attempts a strong low block but Ajinkya Pawar wrestles and touches the mid-line

6' SUPER TACKLE! Narender has been dashed out of bounds He took a risk by going deep but can't claim anything from his attempt

Puneri Paltan 5-6 Tamil Thalaivas

5' Mohit runs around and tackles Akash Shinde with a strong upper block. The Paltan are reduced to three now

4' MULTI-POINT RAID! Narender you beauty! He attempts a dubki to escape from the chain of the cover defenders. The Thalaivas are hungry for more as they want a bonus, so they take a review. What happened here? The trailing foot is in the air but some part of the forefoot is touching the black line. Review unsuccessful
.
Puneri Paltan 2-5 Tamil Thalaivas

Nabibakhsh goes out of the lobby without a touch

2' Akash Shinde takes out Mohit with a vicious kick. It's all level now

1' Narender has been dashed out of bounds by Sawant. He takes a bonus but looks like the defender too goes out of bounds with the raider

Puneri Paltan 1-2 Tamil Thalaivas

Who will face the Panthers in the final? It's go time and here comes Narender

Teams

Puneri Paltan: Mohammad Nabibakhsh, Abinesh Nadarajan, Sanket Sawant, Gaurav Khatri, Fazel Atrachali, Akash Shinde, Pankaj Mohite

Substitutes: Alankar Patil, Saurabh, Badal Singh, Aditya Shinde, Govind Gurjar, Rakesh Ram, Sombir

Tamil Thalaivas: M. Abishek, Himanshu IX, Narender , Arpit Saroha, Sahil Singh, Mohit-II, Ajinkya Ashok Pawar

Substitutes: K. Abhimanyu, Md. Arif Rabbani, Visvanath V, Himanshu Virender singh, Ashish-II, Sachin, Sahil Surender

Hello and welcome to the LIVE coverage of the PKL semi-final match between Puneri Paltan and Tamil Thalaivas

Still can't get over that thrilling encounter between the Thalaivas and Yoddhas? If you can't, then you should right now as the Thalaivas are up in action again for this crunch semi-final match against Paltan.

Only a point separated these two teams in the league phase as they shared the spoils, and now, we are in the climax. Sit back and enjoy as we bring you the team news shortly