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Dabang Delhi lost their first match 17-20 in front of their fans against Bengal Warriors. In an extremely defensive affair, the visitors delivered in the end as Sachin Khambe shined with 5 points, the same as Delhi captain Ravinder Pahal, who put up a brave fight for a losing cause.
In a match where the defenders dazzled, the first points came when Dabang Delhi captain Ravinder Pahal tackled his counterpart Jang Kun Lee while Rohit Kumar Chaudhary returned successfully from his raid as the home side led 2-0 in as many minutes.
It took Bengal Warriors 5 minutes to get their first points of the match through a Mahendra Rajput raid. They went on to score 3 more unanswered points as the home team were restricted to just 3 men. However, the Dabangs did not disappoint the home crowd and Ravinder conjured up a super tackle to get Mahendra out and level the score at 4-4 after 10 minutes.
The home team took the initiative from then and led 8-5 after 16 minutes when the Ravinder Pahal-led Dabang defence restricted the Warriors raiders from winning any point. With Bengal Warriors down to just 3 men, Nilesh Shinde caught Rohit Kumar Chaudhary in a super tackle to make it a 1-point game (8-7), which the visitors overcame when Vineet Sharma tagged Ravinder before returning to his half.
Bengal Warriors sneak it at the end
The half-time whistle blew soon after with the scoreline favouring the home team narrowly – 9-8. In a tactical match, the Dabangs had the slight advantage at the break after the second-lowest scoring half of the second season.
The Warriors levelled the score in the third minute of the half when Vineet Sharma delivered the goods in a do-or-die raid. But, the home team restored their lead and made it 12-10 in the 26th minute through Kashiling’s raid and a tackle on Mahendra.
With a chance of an all out, Rohit Kumar went in for the raid, but the Warriors defence, led by Nilesh Shinde tackled the youngster to bring the scores level. Both the teams exchanged points till the 34th minute and after Kashiling Adake gave Delhi a slender 1-point lead, Kedar Lal came up with the raid of the match. The Warriors raider won 2 points for his team as they took the lead (16-15) and did not let it slip till the end.
Dadaso Awad was tackled by the Warriors while Mahendra Rajput won a point in his raid as the visitors established a 3-point lead with 2 minutes to go. Selvamani K reduced the deficit to just 1 point as the match entered a crucial juncture. However, Mahendra Rajput, in a do-or-die raid, made the scoreline 19-17 after a successful raid with 15 seconds to go on the clock. Kashi was tackled in the final raid as Bengal Warriors won their first match in 8.
Man of the match: Sachin Khambe
