Dabang Delhi moved to the top of the points table after a last-gasp 30-29 victory over Tamil Thalaivas at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday. The game was decided under dramatic circumstances in the buzzer raid of the game as Manjeet Chhillaer’s blunder cost Tamil Thalaivas dearly.
With the scores tied at 29-29, Dabang Delhi’s young raider Naveen Kumar came into the raid in a do-or-die situation. After a frantic 20 seconds, Tamil Thalaivas defence pinned him down successfully. However, the referee awarded a point each to the teams after penalising Manjeet Chhillar for stepping out of the playing area during the course of the raid.
With the game set to end as a tie, Tamil Thalaivas challenged the referee’s decision with a review. It was a call that came back to haunt them. Replays didn’t just show that Manjeet had clearly stepped out of the court, but also confirmed that he participated in the eventual tackle on Naveen Kumar, thus making it illegitimate as he was already out. In the process, raider Naveen Kumar was adjudged safe and Dabang Delhi were awarded the point that gave them the victory.
Earlier in the match, Tamil Thalaivas had made a bright start to the proceedings, opening up a 5-1 lead after five minutes. However, Joginder Narwal’s super tackle prowess meant Dabang Delhi levelled matters at 5-5 within minutes despite the numerical disadvantage.
Ajay Thakur then took matters in his own hands to clean up Dabang Delhi and enforce the game’s first all-out in the 10th minute to give the Chennai side an 11-6 lead.
Thakur and Rahul Chaudhari then kept up the pressure on Delhi to give the Thalaivas an 18-11 half-time lead.
Naveen Kumar and Meraj Sheykh ate into the Tamil Thalaivas lead at the start of the second half but the Chennai side’s defence came to the fore to almost restore their advantage minutes later.
The game seemed wrapped up for the Thalaivas when Chhillar completed his High-Five with a tackle on Neeraj Narwal that opened up an eight-point lead for his side with five minutes left on the clock.
However, the Thalaivas imploded thereafter, gifting points to an aggressive Naveen Kumar. In the 36th minute, two Tamil Thalaivas defenders went out of the court despite being under little pressure to give Dabang Delhi a lifeline in the contest.
With the scoreboard reading 28-24 in the Chennai side’s favour, Delhi tackled Thakur in a do-or-die raid to inflict a late all-out and bring down the deficit to just two points. With the momentum firmly in Delhi’s favour, they levelled the scores at 29-29 in the 38th minute before Chillar’s twin errors in the buzzer raid handed them the game.
On Friday, UP Yoddha will face Gujarat Fortunegiants before hosts Telugu Titans take on Patna Pirates in the final game of the Hyderabad leg.
