Dabang Delhi battled their way to record a shock 33-15 victory over Patna Pirates in the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi season 4 thus ending their seven-match winning streak which began last season.
The viewers were in for a surprise as captain, Kashiling Adake started on the bench against the current champions. The lanky Selvamani led the raiding charge for Delhi. Usual suspect, Pardeep Narwal opened the scoring for the Pirates. But Delhi started well as Selvamani picked up two quick points and the visitors took a surprise 4-1 lead.
All three of Patna’s raiders were sent to the bench early on. Soon the Pirates were down to just three men as captain Dharmaraj made an unsuccessful tackle hold. New kid on the block Abolfazel blazed past the Dabang defence to take out two men and reduce the deficit.
Captain for the day, Meraj Sheykh led from the front for Delhi with some smart tackles. Languishing in second place from the bottom, they were intent on not getting steamrolled today. Twelve minutes into the first half, they led 7-5.
But Patna were their persistent selves and made Delhi work extremely hard for every point. Kashiling looked flustered sitting on the bench. Delhi kept Pardeep Narwal relatively quiet in the first half. He and Rajesh Mondal were on the bench for large periods resulting in a low scoring affair.
The capital side executed their tactics to the letter and went into the second half, four points ahead.
HT- Patna Pirates 7 – Dabang Delhi 11
Patna began the second half with three men on the mat. Delhi were wise and played the game at their own pace. Twenty-five minutes into the game, Pardeep Narwal was now off the court for a massive 17 minutes.
Meaning the Pirates still couldn’t hit the double-digit mark, shows you the side’s dependency on the star raider. Soon, Delhi inflicted an all-out on the Pirates to take a 17-8 lead. Within an instant, Pardeep was again sent to the bench much to the frustration of the Pirates.
Patna seemed edgy and were impatient in their bid to reduce the deficit. But, Delhi were extremely efficient with their tackles and soon reduced the home side two men with ten minutes remaining. Meraj Sheykh did the damage to inflict the second all out on the men in green. Delhi were now leading 26-9 much to the amazement of the spectators.
Delhi defender, Sachin Shingade got the better of Pardeep throughout the match. He took out season four’s best raider once again with a hard-hitting tackle. Three minutes to go and Delhi were leading 31-12. Narwal ended the match, bench bound for a massive 25 minutes.
The Pirates will have to look for a plan B when something similar transpires in the future. Amazing stuff from Dabang Delhi who recorded only their second victory this season. They handed Patna their lowest ever score in Pro Kabaddi history
FT- Patna Pirates 15 - Dabang Delhi 33
