A terrific all-round performance helped Gujarat Fortune Giants beat Dabang Delhi 26-20 to notch up their first win of the Pro Kabaddi League in Hyderabad on Tuesday. Iranian defender Fazel Atrachali marshaled the defence and scored four points.
For Dabang Delhi, it was a night to forget as their skipper Meraj Sheykh drew a blank. Gujarat Fortune Giants opened their account in the third minute with a tackle point. They followed it up with two more points in the next minute to lead 3-0 after four minutes.
Dabang Delhi scored their first point in the sixth minute and trailed 1-4 after eight minutes. Delhi were a bit slow to start with but came into the game with two points as they trailed 4-5 after 13 minutes. In a low-scoring first half, it was Gujarat who dominated the proceedings and led 8-4 after 17 minutes. Gujarat earned a technical point in the 19th minute and followed it up with an all out in the 20th minute and ended the first half leading 15-5.
Rakesh Narwal scored his second raid point in the 21st minute as Gujarat led 16-5. With Meraj Sheykh struggling in defence and offence, Dabang Delhi looked out of sorts and trailed 8-17 after 24 minutes.
Gujarat continued their dominance and picked points with ease and led 20-8 after 28 minutes. A second all out was inflicted by Gujarat in the 31st minute to lead 25-9. Anand Patil scored two raid points for Dabang Delhi to give them some respectability to the score line as they trailed 11-26 after 35 minutes.
Dabang Delhi inflicted an all out in the 38th minute to reduce the deficit to nine points and trailed 19-26. Gujarat controlled the entire game and never looked like losing as they ran away comfortable winners in the end.
Titans’ woes continue
In the other match, Telugu Titans lost their third game on their trot as their dismal start to the season continued. New entrants UP Yoddhas cruised to a 31-18 win in their first match of the league.
Telugu Titans were let down badly by their defence but their spearhead Rahul Chaudhari was in fine form, scoring seven points but it wasn’t enough. It was a one-way street all through the second half as the Titans were unable to find a way past their opponents. They were all out too, which firmly put the match in the newcomers’ favour.
