Mumbai: It proved to be a close contest as defending champions Patna Pirates defeated Dabang Delhi KC 38-35 during the Pro Kabaddi League Season 6 match here at Dome Arena of the NSCI Indoor Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
Dabang Delhi scored the first point of the night when Naveen Kumar scored a successful raid setting the tempo for the night. Patna Pirates opened the account for the night the very next moment when captain Pardeep Narwal scored a point.
The Delhi boys looked confident as they took a 5-3 lead, five minutes into the second half as defending champions Patna were looking to climb up.
In the 10th minute, it was a do or die raid for Manjeet in which he displayed a good game to score a super raid in a difficult situation as the score was equalised at 6-6. With this Manjeet, completed 50 points this season.
In the 13th minute, it was an all out for Patna Pirates when Naveen Kumar was tackled down by Kuldeep Singh who had a strong thigh hold.
Meanwhile, Pardeep Narwal was on target again as he added a point to the tally as the Pirates led with the score reading 15-10. In the 15th minute, Pardeep struck again, giving the team a stronghold as the score read 17-11 with the Delhi boys trailing.
Delhi soon came close when Naveen scored just in time as he got a running hand touch on the opponent as the score read 17-15 with the Delhi boys trailing by two points. At the stroke of half-time, the score read, 18-17 with Patna Pirates leading the game as Dabang Delhi was ready for a close fight.
As action commenced in the second half, Pardeep Narwal scored a super raid in the 23rd minute as the scores were equalised at 23-23 as the match headed for a close result. Narwal got Vishal Mane, Ravinder Pahal and Shabeer Bapu out in one stroke. In the 27th minute, Naveen Kumar scored a Super 10 when he slipped from the tackle which was done by Vikas Kale as the score read 26-28 with Delhi leading. With two minutes to go for the second half to end, the scores stood equalised at 33-33 with both the teams trying their best to pull up. The 38th minute witnessed an all out for Patna Pirates, which saw the score jump to 37-33.
In the end, the proceedings ended in favour of the Pirates as they walked out with a close 38-35 win.
Results:
Patna Pirates 38 (Pardeep Narwal 16, Manjeet 8, Jaideep 4, Kuldeep Singh 1, Vikas Kale 1, Deepak Narwal 1) bt Dabang Delhi KC 35 (Naveen Kumar 15, Chandran Ranjit 6, Rajesh Narwal 5, Vishal Mane 3, Joginder Narwal 3, Yogesh Hooda 1).
Top Raider: Pardeep Narwal (16 points, Patna Pirates)
Top defender: Jaideep (4 points, Patna Pirates).
