Top of the table Dabang Delhi (DD) recorded a monumental 36-35 win over Telugu Titans (TT) in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 8 to continue their unbeaten run. The edge of the seat encounter went down to the final minute when a decisive challenge on Rajnish proved to be the turning point. Titans can take plenty of heart from the encounter, but they still wait for the first win of the PKL season 8. Naveen Kumar and Rajnish were the go-to men for their respective teams as they both ended with 25 and 20 points respectively.
All square at halftime
The scoreline read 18-18 at halftime when both the teams were showing their attacking intelligence with quickfire raids. 14 of Naveen's raid points came in the first half as he helped Delhi to establish supremacy. However, bottom-placed Titans weren't sitting back as they had their star Rajnish, who grabbed nine points in the first half. The likes of Manjeet Chillar, playing in his 114th match and Surinder Singh were off-colour for their respective teams.
Delhi take early lead in the second half
With just three players on the mat for Titans, the table-toppers weren't sitting back as they pounced to record the first all out of the second half in the 25th minute. The scoreline read 24-19 in favour of Delhi as they tried to assert their dominance. But, Rajnish kept on fighting for his team after he went raid after raid to keep his team in the contest.
Naveen Express runs the show with another milestone
The Naveen express on the night was running with relentless pace as the star raider picked season-high 25 points in the encounter. He was responsible for more than two-third of Delhi's points on the night. It wasn't the only milestone for him, he also recorded a league-high 100 raid points in this season of the PKL, underlining his value.
Raid of the century from Rajnish
Rajnish's raid in the 36th minute of the match has to go down as one of the greatest raids ever in the history of PKL. The star man was ankle-held by two Delhi defenders, but he still managed to crawl his way to the midline to register two points and an all-out for his team. By this time, Titans came from 29-32 down to 33-32 in lead. Rajnish ended the night on 20 raid points.
Titans though couldn't consolidate on their lead as they made unforced errors. Naveen's revival and experience got them over the line, while Titans' star man Rajnish was tackled in the penultimate raid as it spelled the end of the contest with scoreline reading 36-35 for Delhi.
Courtesy of the win, Delhi remains top of the league. They are yet to taste defeat in season 8 of PKL. So far this season, they have four wins and two ties and sit at the top of the table with 26 points. Titans' solitary point on the night was enough for them to lift from the bottom place, as they now sit 11th in the table, going above Puneri Paltan. They remain the only team yet in this season of the PKL to win a match, as they have lost four and tied two. Delhi next take on UP Yoddha's on Saturday (January 8) while Titans will look to record their first win of the season on the same night against U Mumba.
