PKL 2023-24: Dabang Delhi stage epic comeback, rise to second on table

Dabang Delhi beat the home team U Mumba 40-34 in a tense encounter at the DOME by NSCI in Mumbai to rise to second on the table. A rampaging Ashu Malik (13 points) was the star of the game on a day when U Mumba’s defence was underwhelming and underperforming.

Dabang Delhi rode on a blistering first half performance by Ashu Malik, who grabbed 8 raid points in the first period and was tackled only once by the Mumba defence. They inflicted the first ALL OUT of the game to take a 13-8 lead.

But as they succeeded on the raid, so did U Mumba, with both defences rendered ineffective in the half and restricted to a mere 7 points. While Dabang Delhi’s raiding was almost a one-man effort, U Mumba spread their 15 raid points among Amirmohammad Zafardanesh, Guman Singh and Jai Bhagwan. By the end of the half, despite trailing by two points they had reduced the Dabang Delhi team to two members on the mat.

Despite some solid raiding under pressure by Dabang Delhi, it didn’t take U Mumba too long in the second half to inflict an ALL OUT of their own and claw back their hold on the game. There was a one-point difference between the two teams as they went into the final quarter of the game.

Ashu Malik capitalised on a series of DO OR DIE raids to reduce the U Mumba numbers and then almost single handedly inflicted a second ALL OUT to take a 36-31 lead with three minutes to play. A series of razor thin decisions went in favour of a brilliant Dabang Delhi’s defence in the dying moments of the game as they closed out a hugely important victory.

Surjeet’s heroics power Bengaluru Bulls to last-gasp win over Patna Pirates

Bengaluru Bulls pulled off a magical, last-gasp win over 3-time champions Patna Pirates as they claimed a 34-33 victory. Veteran defender Surjeet Singh (8 tackle points) was the star of the game, while Patna Pirates skipper Neeraj Kumar finished with 5 tackle points.

Bengaluru Bulls’ ace raider Bharat was not part of the squad and the side felt his absence from the very start. The defence, led by captain Saurabh Nandal and Surjeet, was in top form but the raiders were unable to score points. On the other side of the mat, it was Patna Pirates’ 3-man raiding unit that helped them bag the first ALL OUT in the 14th minute and lead 16-8.

Both teams were neck and neck for the initial phase of play, but the lack of an in-form raider hurt the Bengaluru Bulls. Patna Pirates ended the half leading 20-12, with 9 tackle points and as many raid points. Bengaluru Bulls managed only 3 raid points.

Bengaluru Bulls brought on 2 raiders from the bench – Sushil and Rakshith – in a bid to up their game, but neither was able to make an impact. Neeraj’s double ankle hold on Vikash Kandola in the 27th minute saw Patna Pirates’ lead increase to 10 points at 24-14. Sachin Narwal was the lone raiding hope for Bengaluru Bulls and he got a couple of quick points and Surjeet’s High 5 reduced their deficit, but that was before Patna Pirates’ star raider Sachin produced a massive SUPER RAID to get 3 points.

The momentum swung immediately as Bengaluru Bulls fought back with 2 huge SUPER TACKLES from Surjeet and Ran Singh. With a little over 3 minutes left, Bengaluru Bulls trailed by 8 points at 33-25. Bengaluru Bulls’ gamble of bringing on Sushil paid off in the dying stages as he scalped a mindblowing 2-point raid to leave Patna Pirates with just 1 man on the mat.

Surjeet stepped up to the occasion and executed a superb tackle on Sandeep Kumar to inflict the ALL OUT. With that, Bengaluru Bulls got 3 points, opened up a 1-point lead and sealed a comeback win for the ages.