Business Standard

PKL: Narwal, Chhillar shine in Dabang Delhi's win over Patna Pirates

Chhillar, the defender with most tackle points in PKL history, produced a last-raid tackle to clinch the thriller for Delhi

PKL 2019, Dabang Delhi vs Telugu Titans

File Photo: Dabang Delhi players in action

Press Trust of India Bengaluru

Dabang Delhi's seasoned stars Sandeep Narwal and Manjeet Chhillar had a night to remember as they helped their team beat Patna Pirates 32-29 in the Pro Kabaddi League here on Tuesday.

Chhillar, the defender with most tackle points in PKL history, produced a last-raid tackle to clinch the thriller for Delhi, who were once again without the services of their star raider Naveen Kumar.

Vijay aided with nine points while Narwal, playing the role of an all-rounder, clinched eight points in a win that helped Delhi move to the top of the points table.

Patna lacked the usual sharpness in their defence which ultimately cost them the match.

 

Patna dominated the early minutes of the match, but Delhi made a comeback through their raider Vijay. He got valuable points off a surprisingly unstable Patna defence to give Delhi the momentum to clinch an ALL OUT in the 10th minute to open a 4-point lead.

Narwal and Chhillar used all their experience to good effect on the mat as Delhi's defence thwarted their opponents.

Patna's cover defender Sajin C suffered a knee injury and had to be replaced which clearly affected their team's chemistry. Narwal donned the role of a perfect all-rounder in the first half by also fetching raid points for Delhi.

At the interval, Delhi had a 9-point lead with scores 19-10.

Patna showed why experts had called them early season favourites to a playoff spot by clawing their way back into the match. The first 10 minutes after the restart belonged completely to Patna as Sachin and Guman Singh exploited the errors in Delhi defence.

The lack of a lethal raider affected Delhi's attack and they finally succumbed to an ALL in the 10th minute. Patna had managed to reduce the lead to just one point and were clearly the team with momentum.

But Delhi were in no mood to let this slip. Narwal's 2-point raid opened the lead to three points as both teams traded blows. Mohammadreza Shadloui then clawed one back for Patna with a stunning ankle hold on Ashu Malik.

Vijay then produced a 3-point Super Raid with three minutes remaining to give Delhi a 4-point lead. Patna needed two points in their last raid, but Chhillar brought out a brilliant diving tackle to help Delhi win the match.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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First Published: Jan 18 2022 | 10:14 PM IST

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