In the first match of the evening, raiders Gujarat Giants beat Haryana Steelers 32-26 to register their fourth win of the season. Gujarat dominated right from the first whistle and gave Haryana’s defense no chance to stamp their authority. Ajay Kumar scored a Super 10 (11 points) while Pardeep Kumar fetched 10 points. On the other hand, Dabang Delhi made a spectacular comeback by defeating U Mumba 36-30 to register their ninth win in 15 matches and are on the top spot with 53 points.
Haryana's much-famed defense had a night to forget with Surender Nada struggling in the left corner. The Steelers had just 5 tackle points in the entire match. Pardeep Kumar’s multi-point raids gave the Giants an All Out with two minutes remaining for half time. That opened a seven-point lead and Gujarat maintained it to end the half with scores 19-12.
The early minutes of the second half saw both sides slow down the pace of the match. The experienced defender Surender Nada was having a torrid time with multiple unsuccessful tackles. At the other end, Vikash Kandola grabbed eight points and Meetu took seven raid points in the match.
Haryana kept picking up points from one end Raider Ajay Kumar picked a Super 10 for Gujarat With five minutes remaining, Haryana trailed by six points and had reduced Gujarat to four men on the mat. But the Giants' defenders held firm to ensure there was no late collapse. This win will come as a big relief for the Giants as they have struggled in the recent past.
In the second match of the day, Dabang Delhi made a spectacular comeback by defeating U Mumba 36-30 to register their ninth win in 15 matches and are on the top spot with 53 points. This is the fourth loss for U Mumba in 14 matches and they remain in fifth place with 42 points. From Dabang Delhi's side, Vijay scored 12 points in the match.
The first half was very exciting, U Mumba's team narrowly escaped being all out and due to this Dabang Delhi could not take the lead at the end of the first half. U Mumba's Harendra Kumar took 3 tackle points and captain Fazal Atrachali took 2 tackle points. Vijay and Ashu Malik took 4-4 points in the raiding for Dabang Delhi, while captain Manjit Chillar got two tackle points. At half-time both teams were tied at 12-12.
At the beginning of the second half, U Mumba took an important two-point lead by all out Dabang Delhi. After 30 minutes the score was 23-22 in favour of U Mumba. In the next five minutes, Dabang Delhi took three and U Mumba took two. After 35 minutes, the score was level at 25-25.
In the last five minutes, Dabang Delhi performed brilliantly and completely turned the match in their favour. Just before the end of the match, U Mumba were all out and their chances of a comeback were over. Dabang Delhi in the end registered a fine win with a margin of six points.
For Dabang Delhi, Vijay put up a Super 10 and took 11 raids and one tackle point in the match. Ashu Malik took eight raiding points in defense, Manjit Chillar took four and Sandeep Narwal took two tackle points. Abhishek Singh took eight raid points for U Mumba. Apart from this, V.Ajit Kumar flopped and could take only three raid points. Shivam, who came as a substitute, took six raid points.
