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One absolute nail-biter, one total annihilation - today was a day of contrasts in the Pro Kabaddi League in Delhi. The home side suffered yet another defeat as they were soundly beaten by the Haryana Steelers 42-24.
Earlier in the night, the Tamil Thalaivas picked up their third win of the season, beating the Bengal Warriors in an encounter that went right down to the wire.
Here's what stood out on night 51.
#1 Thalaivas put on a defensive darshan
Almost all of the new teams this season have shown great defensive strength, often overshadowing their raiding potency. The Thalaivas have been no different and today really put on a show in that department.
The Bengal Warriors have a fearsome raiding trio in Maninder Singh, Deepak Narwal and Jang Kun Lee. Yet, the Thalaivas' defence managed to keep them quiet through a combination of early blocks and surprise tackles. Taking advantage of the fact that Bengal's raiders stayed away from Amit Hooda on the right corner, the other defenders in the side threw caution to the wind and were aggressive from the get-go.
The cover positions especially were brilliant on the night. Darshan was superb in effecting the frontal block and the dash either as a primary or secondary tackler. C. Arun was special - he finished with 8 tackle points on the night and was the best defender. Crucially, that haul included three massive Super Tackles that helped his side keep the Warriors at arm's length for much of the night. He was the joint top-scorer in the match for the Thalaivas along with his captain Ajay Thakur.
The Thalaivas finished with more tackle points than raid points - 15 as compared to 14 - almost double what their opponents managed on the night. A fantastic, cohesive defensive showing it was from the Thalaivas.
#2 Delhi break their duck
It was quite the astounding fact that Dabang Delhi were the only side in the competition yet to register a Super Tackle. They had played 14 games prior to tonight and hadn't managed a single Super Tackle, reinforcing why they lie at the bottom of the pile when it comes to defensive prowess amongst all teams this season.
However, the duck was broken in this encounter as they finally registered not one, but two Super Tackles. Both came from Satpal. Both came on Deepak Kumar Dahiya.
Those two tackles on back-to-back Haryana raids spooked Prashant Kumar Rai so much on the third raid that he decided to play it so safe as to not even venture close to the Delhi defence.
It was to prove a lone spark in the grand scheme of things though - they were already down 16 by then - as they suffered a resounding defeat at the hands of the Steelers.
#3 The Steelers lay the smackdown on the home side
The Haryana Steelers had plenty of support considering they weren't too far away from home in Delhi. They dominated from start to finish to inflict a beatdown on the Dabangs from Delhi and take top spot in Zone A in style.
The margin of victory was 18 points, the Steelers were impressive while the Dabangs, absolutely insipid. They were thoroughly outplayed in every department; even before the contest began it was known that the Steelers would be the stronger side defensively, but their raiders too far outperformed those of the home side to contribute to what was a landslide win in the end and complete a clean sweep over Dabang, having won all three of their clashes this season.
Deepak Kumar Dahiya seems to quite like this Dabang defence. He led all scorers with 7 raid points in their first meeting and he led the way again tonight with 6 points. The Dabangs picked up just one tackle point in the first half.
It was an excellent all-round display from the Steelers, helped massively by a tame effort from the Dabangs. It doesn't get any easier for the home side as they next face Pardeep Narwal and the Patna Pirates who will be licking their lips at the prospect of going up against this defensive unit.
#4 Edge of the seat action between the Warriors and Thalaivas
What a game we were treated to by the Bengal Warriors and Tamil Thalaivas. The Warriors were the clear favourites coming into this game, in the top two in their zone and unbeaten in four matches with two wins and two ties. The Thalaivas had only won two games all season and had no momentum despite having run many sides close right through the season.
The Thalaivas inflicted the first All Out of the game, riding on their defensive strength. Jang Kun Lee had gotten off to a good start, but that was it as Maninder Singh and Deepak Narwal were caught napping by the speed and quickness with which the Thalaivas put in some of their tackles. But they had done this in their last game as well, the Thalaivas, against the Pirates, before going on to surrender their advantage in the second half.
And it looked like that script was about to play out again as Maninder found his groove in the second period and those familiar mistakes from the Thalaivas' defence when under pressure began to surface. The Thalaivas though fought gamely with some crucial tackles, keeping the Warriors at bay. The All Out did finally come though and with it, the Warriors took a 2-point lead. Maninder and Ajay Thakur began trading blows at the very end, with each picking up raid points in a flurry, the former finishing with yet another Super 10. Ajay finished with 8 points, seven of them coming in the second period.
Maninder's raid though - a touch point plus the Bonus - gave his side a 3-point lead with slightly more than two minutes remaining and it looked like it may have sealed the win. But Ajay refused to go down without a fight and willed his side to a memorable win in the end.
Compelling, thrilling, edge of the seat action to light up your Sunday evening.
#5 Coach Baskaran and Ajay Thakur inspire Thalaivas to win a thriller
The Tamil Thalaivas looked to be heading for another agonizing defeat after having done so well for 80% of the match. They had conceded the lead to the Bengal Warriors late on after suffering an All Out, but were still rallying. They had brought a 3-point deficit down to two and soon after, just one point inside the final minute of the match.
Maninder Singh's empty raid left five seconds on the clock, enough time for one final raid. With the game on the line, Thalaivas coach K. Baskaran called a timeout and we got to listen in to what he had to say to his captain and star raider Ajay Thakur. He told him to move towards Ran Singh in the right corner, feign movement in his direction to draw a tackle from him and perhaps get a second touch point from another defender who might come to help. He also asked him to target one point first and then maybe look for another as that would get them at least the tie. Ajay took it all in, put on a wry smile towards the end and mentioned that he would try and improvise if possible.
As the whistle blew for the action to resume, Ajay followed exactly what his coach had said and targeted Ran Singh in the right corner. He waited patiently for the error, however, it wasn't forthcoming. As he moved left to get something elsewhere, the left defender came rushing in. Ran Singh too left his line because his teammate had done so. Ajay got touches on them both, bounced off of them and fell back over the line as the Thalaivas leapt in jubilation, the two points giving them a narrow one-point win right at the death.
The inputs from Baskaran were timely and accurate, Ajay Thakur was the perfect man to pull off the heist in that moment. It provided an almost sports movie type ending to this contest as we got to listen in to the plan before it was actually executed. A gutsy, gutsy raid from Ajay Thakur to close out what was an absolute thriller of a contest.
