Puneri Paltan has made it a habit of taking things close and then ending up on the winning side this season. This was exactly what happened against the Bengaluru Bulls as well. Winning 27-25, in the end, thanks to a brilliant Super Raid from Akshay Jadhav who came off the bench.
The match was swinging from one way to the other as both teams played defensively and waited for the others to make mistakes. Puneri Paltan, though, proved to be the better strategist on the night and continued its winning streak.
Now, the Pune side will be hoping to repeat the same against the Tamil Thalaivas. Girish Maruti Ernak, Nitin Tomar, Akshay Jadhav, Rajesh Mondal, and Rinku Nrwal have been superb for the team in the preceding matches. They will be some of the players that the Tamil Thalaivas will be keen to target.
The Tamil Thalaivas will have had time to reassess their strategy and come back with a better plan against the Puneri Paltan. Ajay Thakur has been brilliant for his side leading with nine points in the last game as well. He was well supported by Athul MS in the last game too.
Athul MS has 30 points in his five games so far and has turned out to be a very useful secondary raider for the Tamil Thalaivas. For the team from Tamil Nadu to win, though, Amit Hooda will have to play a huge role in the defense. ‘
If he can find a way to keep Nitin Tomar and Akshay Jadhav quiet then the Tamil Thalaivas will have a chance.
There has only been one match played between the Puneri Paltan and Tamil Thalaivas in the past. That encounter was won by Puneri Paltan. It is difficult o glean too much information from just one match and in essence, the history between the two sides is still being written.
Puneri Paltan has been on a roll of late. They are playing back to back matches in their home leg and making the most of it. They have stated publicly that home support has provided them with an edge in close situations. The crowd has responded to them as well.
The Tamil Thalaivas are a good side and will come refreshed into this encounter but we are sticking with the home team in this one.
Back the Puneri Paltan to win.