Dabang Delhi thumped Bengal Warriors 41-20 in a crucial Pro Kabaddi 2016 Season 4 game to keep their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals alive. Playing their first game of the home leg against an already out Bengal side, the team from the national capital looked in imperious form, defending and attacking like champions. Kashiling Adake was particularly excellent on the night and led from the front.
Bengal Warriors came into the match with a lot of confidence, having given U Mumba a thorough beating in their last game despite already being knocked out of the tournament. Dabang Delhi, on the other hand, needed a win to stay afloat in the competition. The away team were again without Nilesh Shinde and started with Jang Kun Lee, Monu Goyat, Amit Chillar, Nitin Madane, Vishal Mane and Girish Ernak while Dehi started with Kashiling Adake, Sachin Shingade, Meraj Sheykh, Prashant Chavan, Selvamani K, D Suresh and Anil Kumar.
Dabang Delhi started off the game at a brisk pace and drew first blood by taking down Jang Kun Lee quite early in the game and then star raider Kashiling Adake doubled the lead by sending Girish Ernak off. The home team looked quite pro-active in the first few minutes of the game but did not do anything stupid. Sachin Shingade, looking to make amends from his previous errors, took Monu Goyat off the mat with a stupendous tackle.
Bengal were down to three men quite early in the first half and looked under pressure straight away. Meraj Sheykh, despite not getting any points initially, caused a lot of menace for the opposition defence. Nitin Madane earned them a bonus but Kashiling Adake forced him out of the mat on the next raid and Bengal were down to just two men with the onus on Jang Kun Lee to do something about it.
He earned the bonus but was not able to prevent an all out as Delhi showed great intent and let him get away with the bonus to inflict an All Out in the 10th minute and raced to a 11-4 lead, digging a big hole for Bengal Warriors. Delhi kept piling on the pressure and their defender looked like they were playing to a strategy of letting Bengal get away with only bonus points. It worked brilliantly for them and there was no unnecessary exuberance from either Sachin Shingade or Prashant Chavan.
Delhi continued to dominate the first half and their defence was relentless on Bengal’s attack, not letting Jang Kun Lee and co get away with any sort of leverage. With five minutes left in the first half, Delhi had built a 9-point lead with the score being 14-05 and looked to consolidate. Meraj Sheykh was unable to get a do or die raid good with three men and conceded a Super Tackle. However, Kashiling Adake made immediate amends to reduce Bengal to just two men with three minutes remaining.
Bengal were staring at another all out and Delhi kept piling on the pressure by sending Kashiling Adake to raid. The second All Out was effect shortly and Delhi raced to a huge lead of 11 points. The away side was literally blown away by the home team’s performance and the first half ended with Delhi having a lead of eleven points, which gave them a big chance of winning the game.
HALF TIME SCORE: Dabang Delhi 21-10 Benbgal Warriors
The second half began with a string of bonuses and both teams were not looking to give away anything easily but Kashiling came into his own and managed to get touch points consistently. Delhi started controlling the second half as well and Anil Kumar, looking particularly good on the night, tackled down Monu Goyat to put his team ahead by 14 points.
Bengal were heavily dependent on Jang Kun lee and he was doing the bulk of raiding for the away team. However, he also could not do much in front of a highly organised Delhi defence. Sachin Shingade, combining with Prashant Chavan, produced an excellent tackle to take down Ravi Dalal, who was making his return after a long time. Dellhi reduced Bengal to three men again and another All Out was beckoning.
Kashiling was particularly stunning on the night and by far the best player on the mat. Delhi effected their third All Out when Prashant Chavan took Jang Kun Lee down in the 30th miniute to put his team into a massive 20 point lead. The display by Dabang Delhi was quite stellar and everything worked for them on the night, be it in defence or in attack. After a long time, Kashiling Adake was taken off the mat by a Jang Kun Lee raid.
The remainging part of the game was something of a formality and Delhi kept piling on the pressure, taking points one after the other. Bengal were looking out of sorts much before the end of the game and with three minutes remaining, the result of the game was a foregone conclusion. Whatever remained in the game was a formality and Delhi ended up winning by a margin of and moving to 26 points from 11 games.
FULL TIME: Dabang Delhi 41 – 20 Bengal Warriors
