Delhi Capitals beat Haryana Gold 86-72 at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune. After taking a slender one point lead in the first three minutes of the first quarter, the Mukesh Bishnoi-coached side did not relinquish the lead till the end as they went on to register their second win on the third day of the UBA Professional Basketball League.
Vinay Kaushik was the star of the day for Delhi, by scoring 26 points in his side’s sin while Haryana center Jaskaran topscored for his team with 23 points in a losing cause. After taking a 24-16 lead in the first quarter, Delhi continued to increase their lead as they went into the half-time and the third quarter break leading by 9 and 11 points respectively. Continuing their momentum, Delhi Capitals rounded off the score with a 14-point win over Haryana Gold, to hand them their second straight defeat.
Sachin Sharma, who was rushed off court with a bleeding nose, left many to wonder if he could be out of action for long after his collision during the second session. However, the Income Tax employee from Delhi showed what he is made of and recovered in time to be back on the court to help his team.
“He is a fighter and that was reason for him to be back on court,” said coach about their skipper Sachin who played a role of the playmaker and helped his team mates to get their names in the list of scorers.
Haryana was no match for Delhi as the closest they could come was in the final session with the scored 66-61 in favour of the Capitals. The third quarter also had the Gold within a whisker of the Capitals when the scorecard read 51-57, but Delhi did not let their lead go.
“We played according to the plan and it worked. It was the team work,” said Mukesh Bishnoi after the game. “Things are going well according to plan and with experience in the side, I think we will have a better show compared to what happened last year.”
Haryana coach Shibba Maggon had trouble getting her words across on time and was reprimanded on quite a few occasions by the officials for taking a lot of time during timeouts. As her boys ran out of ideas on the court, she was left scratching her head as her side failed to muster a single point on the table with a second loss in as many matches.
Quarter 1: Delhi Capital: 24; Haryana Gold: 16
Quarter 2: Delhi Capital: 44; Haryana Gold: 33
Quarter 3: Delhi Capital: 63; Haryana Gold: 54
Quarter 4: Delhi Capital: 86; Haryana Gold: 72
