Dabang Delhi overcomes the Patna Pirates challenge to confirm their spot in the semi-finals

It was the clash of the top two teams on the table in the ‘Match 126’ of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 as the league leaders Patna Pirates were up against the second-placed Dabang Delhi.

The two teams have been electric this season with great performance throughout the tournament. With the confirmation of their place in the semifinals, the Pirates decided to play their bench here against Delhi to give rest to their key players. The Patna-based franchise fielded a completely changed side on the mat, with Mohammadreza Chiyaneh the only man from the regular starting seven a part of the team.

The team gave Delhi a tough completion in the contest and it never looked like a B team in action. The game was heavily dominated by the defenders from both sides as Patna and Delhi picked up sixteen and eleven tackle points respectively throughout the game. Patna had almost 66% of their points in the defense which shows how solid and dependable the defensive unit has been this season.

Shubham Shinde led the charge in absence of the regular defenders alongside Mohammadreza as the duo picked up a total of nine points for their team with Shubham racking up a Thigh 5 in the process. They were supported we’ll by Saurabh Gulia who had four points to his name as well. The raiders did not have a remarkable impact as the stand-by skipper Monu picked up two points to his name.

Delhi was quite similar to their opponents when it came to the point division. Despite Naveen and Vijay Malik both starting for the side, the raiders were not able to do much with Vijay emerging as the top scorer of the match with 7 points to his name. Naveen wasn’t efficient in the gale and would have been better if the coach had decided to rest him considering the importance of the match. The superstar was only about to pick two points in the entire game which hurts a player of his caliber.

However, with regular star missing out on their mojo it was the veteran Manjeet Chillar standing in as the skipper for the night in absence of Joginder Narwal stole the night away with his performance as the all-rounder scored 5 tackle points to his game earning his first Thigh 5 of the season in the process. He was supported aptly by Krishan Dhull who had four tackle points to his name in the contest.

Krishan Dhull with a textbook ankle hold on Daniel against the Pirates

The game started off slow as both sides took a cautious approach to the game and did not make any unnecessary moves that could give an opening to their opponents. Both the sides were equally balanced as they went back and forth with each other in the majority of the first half. None of the raiders could find a dent in the opposition’s defensive unit and felt helpless in the entirety of the first half. At the end of the whistle, the Delhi-based franchise had a two-point advantage over their opponents heading into the final half of the fixture.

The second half was quite similar in comparison to the first as both the teams adopted the same playing style from their first half and looked in no hurry to make an advanced tackle or go in too deep in search of raid points. The defensive performances from both sides were commendable as they were patient and took their time before going all-in on a raider.

With the game poised and headed towards a draw, Delhi put the pedal to the gear and was successful in their endeavors after Vijay scored twice in a row to put Delhi in the lead. The Pirates were not able to make a comeback and seemed okay with the loss as Delhi emerged victorious 26-23 to confirm their direct entry into the semifinals finishing at second place on the league standings.

Both Delhi and Patna have already made their way into the semifinals and would like to test out their bench strengths once again as they still have one game each left in their campaigns. The table-toppers will be up against the Haryana Steelers in the final game of the season this Saturday.

The Steelers have the higher odds of making it into the playoffs as the team is currently on the fifth spot on the table and still has two games in their hands. Delhi on the other hand will be up against the Telugu Titans on Friday as the team has been struggling at the bottom of the points table.