In the 62nd match of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 2022, Dabang Delhi defeated Patna Pirates 32-29 and moved from third to first position in the points table. This is Delhi's seventh win in 11 matches whereas Patna's third defeat in 11 matches.
Three-time champion Patna Pirates came into this match after a dominating 38-31 win over Pawan Sehrawat's Bengaluru Bulls while Delhi ended their two-match losing streak with a disciplined and hard-fought 28-25 win over Haryana Steelers on Saturday.
After the first half, Dabang Delhi were 19-10 ahead and had taken a very good lead. Delhi performed brilliantly in the first 10 minutes and got Patna Pirates all out in the 11th minute. Patna's defense took only two points in the first half and was the main reason behind the two-point deficit.
In the absence of Naveen, Sandeep Narwal scored six points (5 raiding and 1 tackle) in the first 20 minutes for Dabang Delhi. Apart from him, Vijay took four points in raiding. Prashant Kumar Rai took four raiding points in the first half for Patna Pirates, while Neeraj took two tackle points in the defense.
In the first 10 minutes of the second half, Patna Pirates made a tremendous comeback and in the 31st minute they inflicted an all-out on Dabang Delhi to make the score look 21-22. In the 37th minute of the match, the score was 26-25 in favour of Dabang Delhi. Vijay's timely super raid helped Delhi take their lead to four points which proved to be decisive in the end.
In the match, Vijay took nine raiding points for Delhi whereas Sandeep Narwal took eight points in the match for Patna Pirates, Neeraj performed well in the defense and took 4 tackle points, but none of the players could muster points while raiding and this became the main reason for Patna’s defeat.
Thrilling tie between Giants and Mumba
In the second match of the night, Gujarat Giants and U Mumba played a low-scoring tie with final scoreline reading 24-24. Gujarat Giants and U Mumba played a low-scoring tie. Ajay Kumar turned out to be the saviour for Giants with seven points to his name including a last-minute point to level the scores. With their fifth tie of the season, Mumba are placed sixth on the points table whereas Giants are placed 10th after their third tie.
