Dabang Delhi suffered from a heartbreaking loss in Pro Kabaddi 2016 Season 4 as they were defeated 31-32 by Patna Pirates in a pulsating contest that went down to the last second. On a night when they needed to win desperately, a spirited Delhi were rallied by an inspiring performance from captain Meraj Sheykh, who showed stellar abilities in both defence and attack to carry his team forward. However, it was not enough as Patna, who did not have a lot of incentive to win the game, showed why they are defending champions.
The home team came into the second game of their home leg with sky high confidence and they were looking to take another step towards the semi-final by winning against defending champions Patna Pirates, who were pretty relaxed having already qualified for the final four. The home team started with the same seven that demolished Bengal Warriors on Sunday while Patna were without skipper Dharmaraj Cheralthan and gave chances to a few young players.
Although Patna drew first blood in the game through Rajesh Mondal, Delhi took control of the game by taking out Pardeep Narwal and then Selvamani getting a bonus point. Kashiling Adake was looking menacing right from the start but was not able to get on the scoreboard for quite some time. Delhi constantly seemed like the team on the front foot and their aggressive defensive duo of Anil Kumar and Prashant Chavan produced a superb tackle to get rid of Abolfazel.
Patna drew level through mistakes by Selvamani and Chavan but Kashiling Adake dealt Patna a double blow by getting the touch point and sending Pardeep Narwal out of the mat. However, the defending champions, who were not there to just make up the numbers, took Adake down soon to revive their own star raider and were in the lead. Coach Sagar Bandekar and Delhi began to exercise some caution while dealing with Patna.
Dabang Delhi did really well to keep Pardeep Narwal at bay and that is what kept them afloat in the game because the Patna defence was not leaking anything easily. The game was tied at 6-6 with eight minutes to go and Patna took a two point lead with their Iranian duo Abolfazel and Fazel Atrachali. Delhi were down to just three men and Patna raided through Pardeep Narwal and a mistake by Sachin Shingade extended Patna’s lead to three points.
Pardeep Narwal got a touch off Vikas Khandola to reduce Delhi to just one man and the home side were staring at an All Out. However, Kashiling Adake produced a Super Raid to reduce his team’s deficit to just one point. Pardeep was relentless and kept attacking, trying to effect an All Out, but Meraj Sheykh combined with Kashiling Adake to get a Super Tackle and draw his team level at 13-13.
Delhi showed great spirit towards the end of the first half and an advanced tackle on Meraj by Fazel gave Delhi the lead with just one munute to go in the first half. Sachin Shingade came into his own in the last minute of the first period when he showed excellent defensive composure to take down Rajesh Mondal and produce yet another Super Tackle. Dabang Delhi ended the first half with a two point lead.
HALF TIME: Dabang Delhi 16-14 Patna Pirates
Both teams had four men on the mat when the second half started and as a result, the approach was quite cautious. Kuldeep Singh effected a superb running kick to take Sachin Shingade out and revive Pardeep Narwal, who raided with Delhi having three men on the mat but decided to force a do or die raid. It worked as Patna took down Vikash Khandola and then Pardeep got a touch point off Bhupinder to reduce them to one man.
However, the magical Meraj Sheykh kept Delhi in the lead by producing a superb two point raid. Selvamani nearly effected a Super Tackle on Pardeep but his leg crossed the half line and Delhi were down to one man again. This time it had to be an All Out but Meraj Sheykh, wreaking havoc in the Patna camp, produced a stunning Super Raid to save his team yet again. Delhi were in the lead with scores at 21-19
Pardeep again took out Prashant Chavan to reduce Delhi to two men but those were Meraj and Kashiling, who combined to get yet another Super Tackle to take a three point raid. Delhi’s resistance was getting to Patna but Rajesh Mondal finally capitalised on Sachin Shingade’s missed tackle to reduce the home team to one man again. But then again, there was Meraj Sheykh, who was writing his own script on the night and got another two point raid to put Delhi ahead by three points.
Some sort of sense was reduced to proceedings when Pardeep Narwal finally effected the first All Out of the game but they led only by one point with the score reading 25-26. There were 10 minutes remaining in the game and Patna were leading by one point when a bonus awarded to the defending champions was overturned by a Delhi review. Meraj’s do or die raid was ended in a tackle point for Patna, who increased their lead to two points.
Delhi were forced on the backfoot again when Patna raced into a three point lead with just eight minutes remaining in the game. With Meraj Sheykh nursing his niggle, the responsibility was on Kashiling to take charge and the Delhi raider did it in some style by producing a Super Raid to put his team in the lead. Rajesh Mondal quickly restored parity with an excellent touch point.
A tasty battle was on hand with six and a half minutes remaining and both teams at 29-29. Patna had no urgency in their demeanour and decided to put the onus on Delhi, who responded through Kashiling’s bonus point and then an excellent tackle on Rajesh Mondal to take a two point lead. Delhi’s defence was fantastic on the night and played with remarkable consistency against an attack comprising Rajesh and Pardeep.
Delhi went into the last three minutes with a lead of two points and a crucial do or die raid by Meraj Sheykh brought Patna back into the game and reduce the lead to one point. The defending champions leveled proceedings through Pardeep Narwal, taking the game into the last two minutes. A review by Patna Pirates denied Delhi a bonus and the home team failed to take the lead.
Patna appraoched the game with no urgency and it was up to Delhi to get something in the last minute of the game if they wanted to win. Pardeep Narwal ran down the clock to force the do or die raid, which was the last of the match, on Delhi and the responsibility was on Kashiling Adake to win it for the home team but he was taken down, which killed the match and their hopes of reaching the semi-final.
