All but out of contention for the next round, Telugu Titans managed to register a morale-boosting win, thrashing Jaipur Pink Panthers 41-34 in the inter-zonal challenge, on Wednesday.
The contest between teams placed second from last in their respective zones before the game saw Titans march ahead from the word go with Jaipur always playing catch up.
It was also a battle of raiders as Titans skipper Rahul Chaudhari, who’s been playing a lone hand through the season, and youngster Pawan Kumar of Jaipur fought to score more. It was only fair that they both came away with a massive 17 raid points against their names.
The difference was visible from the start as Titans raced away to a 23-11 lead at half time after being cautious for the first ten minutes.
The second half began in a similar vein with Titans continuing to increase their margin to 29-15 before Pawan came to the fore.
He made 20 forays across the line for his 17 points and soon the score was a respectable 38-34 in the Titans’ favour with a minute to go. Chaudhari scored three points in his last two raids to seal the issue.
The result: Telugu Titans 41 (Rahul Chaudhari 17, Nilesh Salunke 7, Vishal Bhardwaj 5, Sombir 4, Mohsen Maghsoudlou 4) bt Jaipur Pink Panthers 34 (Pawan Kumar 17, Nitin Rawal 4).