Dabang Delhi cashed in on the good form of its Iranian raiders – Meraj Sheykh and Abolfazel Maghsodlo – who helped it make a fine second-half comeback to outlast Bengaluru Bulls 38-30 in an inter-zonal match of Pro Kabaddi League season 5, here at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Wednesday.
Scorecard and play-by-play commentary
Sheykh made a series of successful forays in the second half that saw Delhi forcing an ‘all-out’ in the ninth minute, levelling the score with Bengaluru (23-23). Maghsodlo had kept Delhi in the hunt in the first half with some successful forays in the opponent zone but it was Rohit Kumar of Bengaluru who was bagging higher number of raid points.
Rohit made a series of successful raids as Bengaluru got Delhi all out by the 13th minute to take a 13-8 lead and preserved it till the end of the first half, leading 18-12.
Delhi showed a greater resolve after the change of ends where Sheykh started foxing the opposition tacklers with his agility and guile. The short and stocky Iranian raider repeatedly slipped out of the grip of the Bengaluru defence, led by the seasoned Sunil Jaipal, picking up crucial points in the process.
Delhi tacklers in turn devised a way to tackle Rohit Kumar, who was greatly neutralised in the second-half thereby blunting most of the Bengaluru offensives. Maghsodlo, who suffered an ankle twist early in the second half, was seen in a less offensive role as his compatriot Sheykh took over the reins of Delhi’s attack for the remaining part of the match.
Sheykh scored 14 points from 21 raids while Maghsodlo scored eight points. Rohit Kumar remained the best raider for Bengaluru with 13 points.
Dabang Delhi, which notched up its first back-to-back win of the tournament, tallied 24 points from nine matches but remained at the bottom of Zone A while Bengaluru Bulls suffered its fifth straight loss, remaining fourth with 23 points from 11 matches in Zone B.
Mumbai edges past Bengal
In the second match of the night, U Mumba prevailed over host Bengal Warriors 37-31 to net its third consecutive win. Captain Anup Kumar effected some succesful raids, aggregating highest 11 points for U Mumba, which tallied 34 points from 12 outings to rise to the second spot in Zone A.
Scorecard and play-by-play commentary
Bengal Warriors suffered its second successive loss but continued to top Zone B with 42 points from 13 matches.
The result: Dabang Delhi 38 (Meraj Sheykh 14, Abolfazel Maghsodlo 8) bt Bengaluru Bulls 30 (Rohit Kumar 13).
The result: U Mumba 37 (Anup Kumar 11, Kashiling Adake 8) bt Bengal Warriors 31 (Maninder Singh 12)
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