Dabang Delhi KC and Puneri Paltan began the Bengaluru leg of Pro Kabaddi League season 10 with comfortable wins at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.
Delhi Captain Naveen led the charge with 13 points to lead Delhi to a 38-31 win over home side Bengaluru Bulls.
Both teams started out neck-to-neck as they were locked at 3-3 in the fifth minute. However, the Delhi team tackled Vikash Kandola and inched ahead at 6-3 in the eighth minute. Raider Ashu Malik also upped his game as the Delhi-based franchise extended their lead further.
Delhi continued to put relentless pressure on their opponents and eventually carried out an all out in the 12th minute to take a 14-7 lead in the 15th minute. The Bulls pulled off a super tackle on Malik in the 18th minute, but the Delhi side still held the lead at 17-12 at the end of the first half.
Saurabh Nandal tackled Naveen early in the second half and helped the Bulls reduce the gap between the two sides to three points at 17-20. Thereafter, Sushil picked up a raid point and Nandal tackled Malik, but the Delhi side managed to stay ahead at 23-20 in the 26th minute. After
losing a bit of steam, the Delhi side regained the momentum and carried out an all out to take a 29-23 lead in the 31st minute.
Bharat pulled off a magnificent raid, taking out Himmat Antil, Yogesh and Mohit, but the Delhi side kept their noses in front at 32-29 in the 33rd minute. Naveen effected a raid as Dabang Delhi continued to forge ahead at 36-30 in the 38th minute.
Malik pulled off another raid in the dying minutes of the match as Dabang Delhi KC eventually registered a comprehensive victory.
Puneri Paltan beat U Mumba
Puneri Paltan put up a fantastic performance against U Mumba to clinch a 43-32 victory. Mohit Goyat’s Super 10 — 12 points from 17 raids — was the icing on a tremendous team performance by the Paltan.
In a match billed as one of the fiercest derbies in the season, the Paltan started off the stronger. Pankaj Mohite’s super raid in only the fourth raid of the game set the tone for the Paltan. Soon enough they had inflicted a first all out on U Mumba, to take a 13-6 lead.
Paltan continued to put pressure on their opponents and took full control fo the game. V Visvanath’s super tackle on Mohit Goyat was the only highlight for U Mumba in the first half as the teams went into the break with Paltan leading 21-13.
The Paltan remained relentless after the break streaking into a 13-point lead at one point of time before U Mumba turned things around. Within five minutes of the second half, they inflicted an all out of their own to claw back to 20-29.
Despite that setback, Puneri Paltan never let U Mumba wrest the game away from them, and only doubled down on their all-around brilliant display to consistently chip away and keep their huge lead intact. With three minutes of the game left, they inflicted a second all out on U Mumba before cruising to an 11-point win.
