Dabang Delhi have registered back to back victories in the eighth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) as they thumped U Mumba by 31-27. Naveen Kumar produced a superb ‘Man of the Match’ performance with 17 points in the match. He also crossed the 500 point raid points in the history of PKL to add another feather to his cap. The back to back wins saw Delhi go top of the table in the tournament.
First Half: Shivam Anil stars, Delhi miss out on all-out
Both teams showed a very defensive approach relying on not giving away easy points. Shivam Anil, who came as a substitute, turned out to be the hero towards the end of the half as he was involved in four points and had a bonus point raid coupled with a super tackle. Mumba struggling and trailing at 8-10 were then leading 12-10 thanks to the heroics of Shivam. Delhi missed a huge chance of all-out when Shivam raided in the 18th minute.
Second Half: Delhi turn the tables in the final 10 minutes
Mumba were on full song as in the opening five minutes of the second half they garnered 11 consecutive points to take the score from 8-10 to 19-10. U Mumba's V Ajith and Abhishek Singh were the cause of Delhi downfall as they both combined for the first all out of the night. Ajith and Abhishek both ended with seven and five points respectively in the contest.
Naveen's milestone does it for Delhi
Naveen Kumar was the man to watch out for as Delhi made an astonishing comeback in the contest. After going seven minutes without a point, Delhi stormed back from 10-19 to 20-20 all within no time. Naveen scored 17 points in the match with 15 successful raids and now has 500 raid points in the history of PKL. He took 47 matches to achieve the feat.
Delhi dominate in final 10 minutes
The team from Delhi wasn’t sitting back as they pulled it off in the final 10 minutes, giving the opposition no chance. Joginder Narwal’s defending alongside Manjeet Chhillar were the highlight of Delhi’s defense in the final few minutes. A super tackle in the 38th minute on Ajith piled misery on Mumba as Delhi opened a four-point gap with two minutes to spare.
The 2015 champions, U Mumba will next take on Tamil Thalaivas on Monday (December 27) while Dabang Delhi will take the guards against Gujarat Giants on Sunday (December 26). As things stand, it's Dabang Delhi who sit atop with 10 points, while there will be work to do for U Mumba, who remain on five points.
