The Dabang Delhi side was up against the challenge of Bengaluru Bulls in the ‘Semifinal 2’ of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8.
Both sides fought till the very end but the Delhi-based franchise emerged victorious 35-40 at the end to move into the finals of the tournament. Naveen Kumar once again was the hero for the franchise are the superstar picked up fourteen raid points to his name to lead his side past the finish line. The raider was supported by Neeraj Narwal and Vijay Malik as the duo picked up a total of nine points for their side. The defense was right on the mark tonight as they picked up a total of eleven tackle points with Sandeep Narwal leading from the front scoring three tackle points for his side.
On the other hand, the Bengaluru-based franchise was completely dependent on their skipper Pawan Sehrawat, who scored the majority of the points for his side racking up a total of eighteen points, reaching a total of three hundred points this season in the process. None of the other raiders were able to impress tonight with Bharat emerging as the second top scorer with just four points to his name. The defense looked off-color as none of the defenders other than Saurabh Nandal could leave an impact on the game. The Bulls just had nine tackle points in the game with Saurabh scoring four points by himself.
The Bengaluru Bulls opened the contest with consecutive points as Pawan picked up a point to open the tally, followed by a tackle point on Naveen to get his point on the driving side, Pawan added to his tally with a touchpoint on Joginder, to get his side in the lead by 3-0. Delhi however quickly fired back with three consecutive points of their own to level the scores 3-3 four minutes into the first half.
Delhi tried to build on the momentum with a few more points to their name to reduce the Bulls to just one man. However, Pawan had other plans in mind as he scored a multipoint raid to level the scores 6-6 in the 7th minute. The skipper tried to repeat the feat but could not avoid the all-out as Delhi retained their lead with the tackle point on Pawan to establish a three-point advantage over their opponents with the scores 7-10 in their advantage.
The Bulls quickly equalized the scores once again with a multipoint raid courtesy of Pawan to bring the scores 10-10 with ten minutes left in the first half. The skipper kept the points running for his side bringing his side back in the lead with another multipoint raid. Vijay however scored a touchpoint in a do-or-die raid to keep his side in the game. Delhi equalized the scores with a tackle point on Pawan to level the scores 14-14.
Pawan Sehrawat soars as he crosses the ‘300 raid-point milestone’ this season
The high-flyer completed his ‘Super 10’ within the first ten minutes of the contest, but Delhi kept him silent in the next few minutes to establish a lead over their opponents, Despite their skipper on the sidelines, the Bengaluru-based franchise managed to get the lead back in their favor with a one-point advantage leading 16-15 with two minutes remaining in the contest.
Sandeep however leveled the scores once again with a tackle point on Bharat to bring the scores to 16-16. The Bulls managed to score a tackle point in the closing raid on of the first half to manage to keep a one-point advantage leading by 17-16 heading into the final half of the contest.
The second half started off with a quick pace as both the sides traded points back and forth before Delhi capitalized with a super tackle on Pawan to get the lead back in their favor. The Delhi-based franchise capitalized on the momentum as they established a four-point advantage over their opponents leading by 18-22.
The Bulls were quick to fire back with a super tackle followed by a touchpoint from Pawan to bring the scores 21-22. Neeraj however scored a super raid to bring the lead back to four points. The Delhi-based franchise capitalized on the super raid and inflicted the second all-out on the Bulls to increase their advantage to six points leading by 29-23 with twelve remaining in the contest.
Delhi kept adding onto their lead with consecutive points, Naveen added to the worries with a Super raid in the 12th minute to get his team a nine-point advantage leading 34-25 with just eight minutes remaining in the contest. Delhi tried to slow down the pace of the game with the lead in their favor.
With just five minutes remaining in the contest, the Delhi-based franchise had an eight-point advantage in their favor leading by 27-35. Naveen added salt to the wounds completing his Super 10 in the 16th minute, adding two more points to Delhi’s lead. Bharat tried to facilitate a comeback for his side with consecutive points bringing the score tally to 30-37. The Bulls scored a tackle point in the next raid to reduce Delhi’s lead to just six points with two minutes left in the game.
Delhi tried to slow down the game with just one minute remaining in the contest, Pawan kept scoring points for his side as he turned the scoreline to 33-37. However. Delhi closed the door to the comeback with Naveen scoring a touchpoint on Pawan as Dabang Delhi won the contest 35-40 at the end of the final whistle to make their way into the finale this Friday against the three-time PKL champions Patna Pirates.