PKL 2023-24: Dabang Delhi enter top-six with win over UP Yoddhas, U Mumba beat Telugu Titans with all-round show

A superlative Dabang Delhi put UP Yoddhas to the sword, as they won 35-25 at the Noida Indoor Stadium in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 match on Saturday. Raider Ashu Malik’s 11 points and defender Ashish’s 5 points were the standout performances for them on the day.

In as much as this was the UP Yoddhas home turf it was also Dabang Delhi’s, and in the early going they basked in it. Five minutes into the game Ashu Malik’s SUPER RAID, the first of the evening put Dabang Delhi KC in front and from thereon over the next few minutes they barely put a foot wrong in the game. Despite a brief resistance led by Surender Gill, Dabang inflicted the first ALL OUT to take a 13-7 lead.

The half was defined by high class raiding and some lacklustre defending with both teams logging a mere five tackle points in the half. In Naveen Kumar’s absence Dabang Delhi’s raiding trio split 13 points between them to keep the lead intact as they went into the break.

The UP Yoddhas silently chipped away at the Dabang Delhi numbers and the lead to put them on the ropes early in the second half. A strong SUPER TACKLE by Yogesh on Pardeep Narwal though saved them the blushes. That tackle also led to UP Yoddhas’ defender Nitesh Kumar being handed a yellow card for ill-discipline, tilting the game back into Delhi’s favour, who extended their lead.

If the first half had been a raiding paradise, the second proved to be one for the defenders to make hay. The UP Yoddhas spent the final five minutes of the game mostly with three players on the mat, desperately trying to cut away at the Dabang Delhi lead.

But for every tackle they made, Delhi matched them perfectly, and then came the coup de grace with the final raid of the evening. Malik went in for Delhi knowing that just letting time tick away would confirm the win and yet, with ten seconds left he jumped in, got all three UP Yoddhas players to inflict a second ALL OUT and take a brilliant win.

U Mumba ride on stellar all-round performance to defeat Telugu Titans 52-34

U Mumba notched up their fourth victory on the trot as they beat bottom-placed Telugu Titans 54-32 in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 match at the Noida Indoor Stadium on Saturday. U Mumba had a bunch of star performers as Guman Singh [10 raid points], Rinku [8 tackle points] and Sombir [8 tackle points] shined on the big stage.

It was an evenly contested match until the 1Mst0th minute when both sides were tied at 7 points, post which U Mumba took off. Iranian raider Amirmohammad Zafardanesh executed a stunning raid to get rid of 3 defenders in the 11th minute. He came back to torment the Titans’ defence again when he got the better of Milad Jabbari and Parvesh Bhainswal to inflict the ALL OUT. With 5 minutes left in the first half, U Mumba led 17-12.

It was then Guman Singh’s turn to produce a SUPER RAID as he outsmarted 3 defenders and U Mumba coasted to a 6-point lead at 21-15. The Titans endured more misery and ended the first half with just one man and were at the receiving end of an ALL OUT in the 21st minute. Sombir produced a massive tackle on Prafull Zaware to complete a High 5 and give his side a 27-18 lead.

The Titans, missing the services of their captain Pawan Sehrawat, fought back through some strong raiding from Rajnish. A SUPER RAID from him in the 26th minute saw U Mumba down to 2 men, but the men in orange handled the pressure well as Jai Bhagwan trapped Rajnish in an iron-clad ankle hold for a SUPER TACKLE. With 10 minutes to go, U Mumba led 34-26.

However, a mistake from Jai saw him fall short of the baulk line and the Titans were given another golden opportunity as their opponents were reduced to 3. But the Titans’ raiders failed to capitalize as U Mumba executed not 1, not 2, but 3 SUPER TACKLES. And all three came from their right corner, Rinku.

There was more joy in store for U Mumba as Jai made amends for his earlier error by wiping out the Titans’ 3-man defence to grab a SUPER RAID and inflict a 3rd ALL OUT on the Titans. That raid gave U Mumba a 19-point lead at 48-29. A SUPER TACKLE from Sombir wrapped up the game and U Mumba posted their biggest win of the season.