Visakhapatnam, Dec 11 (IANS) UP Yoddha defeated hosts Telugu Titans 27-20 in a Zone B contest of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.

For UP, Prashanth Kumar Rai was the top scorer with eight raid points.

For the home side, Abozar Mighanis contributed with six tackle points but was let down by his raiders. Nilesh Salunke scored just one raid point, while ace raider Rahul Chaudhari got six points for the Titans.

Both teams still remain in contention for a place in the playoffs.

UP Yoddha made a strong start to lead 3-0 after three minutes as Prashanth Kumar Rai made a two-point raid. It was a close contest in the first five minutes as Telugu Titans trailed 2-3.

Telugu Titans led for the first time as they took 5-4 lead after eight minutes. Both teams traded raid and tackle points in the next few minutes with the score at 8-8 after 15 minutes.

Abozar and Nitesh marshaled their teams' defence superbly in a low-scoring half. Rahul made a two-point raid in the 18th minute as Titans went into the break leading 11-10.

UP Yoddha were the better in the second-half as Nitesh Kumar kept Rahul quiet and got a high five himself. Titans forced a super tackle in the 28th minute to trail 15-16.

The next few minutes of the match saw UP Yoddha open a sizeable lead. An all-out was inflicted in the 31st minute to lead 21-16.

With less than five minutes to go, UP Yoddha held a six-point lead. The match looked like slipping from Titans' grasp when Prashanth made a two-point raid in the 39th minute as UP Yoddha led 27-19 and finally clinched an easy 27-20 victory.