PKL 8: Delhi beat Haryana, UP Yoddha overcome Telugu Titans

Delhi's team lost Naveen Kumar to an injury in the second half.

Dabang Delhi K.C.’s Vijay produced last-minute heroics to help them beat Haryana Steelers 28-25 in Match 55 of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 8. Vijay scored 11 points for the Delhi team. 5 of his total came in the last 2 raids that helped the PKL season 7 finalists escape with a win.

Dabang lost Naveen Kumar to an injury in the second half. Still, the team showed enough composure to stifle the Haryana raiders and win the first match of PKL 8 Triple Panga night. 

The first half was a low-scoring affair despite the plethora of talented raiders on the mat. Naveen Kumar was sent to the dugout 4 times (in 8 raids) by the Haryana defence marshaled by the experienced Surender Nada and young Jaideep. Naveen could only score three points in a low-scoring half and was outscored by his teammate Vijay. 

Haryana raiders struggled too which resulted in a lot of Do-or-Die situations for both sides. The defenders owned the first half which ended with the scores level at 11-11. 

The first ten minutes of the second half of the PKL match was a repeat with both sides taking an overly cautious approach. Naveen Kumar was at the receiving end of a tough tackle in the 4th minute after the restart which forced him. The defence kept matching each other with tackles as the raiders struggled to make a significant impact. There was just one point separating the two at the first Time Out with the match desperately missing a Super Raid. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlea7MGMieo

Two 2-point raids followed the Time Out as the teams matched each other. There was nothing to separate the sides as the likes of Vikash Kandola and Vinay struggled. With five minutes remaining the scores were tied at 21-21. It seemed very likely a mistake would decide the fate of the PKL match.

Sandeep Narwal produced a thigh-hold to send Vikash Kandola to the dugout with 2 minutes remaining. Delhi’s Vijay then produced a 2-point raid in the final minute. He then followed it with a 3-point Super Raid to take the game completely away from the Steelers. Haryana could not find a way back from it as they succumbed to a 3-point defeat. 

UP Yoddha cruise to victory against Telugu Titans

U.P. Yoddha showed great composure and planning as they beat struggling Telugu Titans 39-33 in Match 56 of PKL Season 8. Yoddha were better in all the departments with their raiders – Pardeep Narwal (10), Shrikant Jadhav (7) and Surender Gill (7) – picking up valuable points. Telugu Titans had a great opportunity to make a comeback by inflicting an ALL OUT on Yoddha in the final minutes but captain Rohit Kumar’s decision to go raiding backfired. Rajnish and Ankit Beniwal scored 9 points each for the Titans who are without a win in Season 8.

Telugu Titans had Rohit Kumar back in the starting 7 but that didn’t really add to the raiding efforts in the first half. Rajnish and Ankit Beniwal showed glimpses of their immense potential, but the half surely belonged to Yoddha who had a clear plan for the Titans. Their defensive corner duo of Sumit and Nitesh Kumar found form after the initial raids making life difficult for the young Telugu raiders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3s6dwsvpaU

At the other end Pardeep Narwal, Shrikant Jadhav and Surender Gill took turns to eat away points from the defence. Together, they inflicted an ALL OUT on the Titans with 7 minutes remaining for halftime to open a 3-point lead. Yoddha managed the time on the mat very well and ended the half on top with scores 19-14.

U.P. continued to dominate the early minutes of the second half with Surender Gill scoring points in raids. He was ably backed by Nitesh Kumar who clinched his High 5 as Yoddha sensed an ALL OUT. But Titans’ Prince D. produced a stunning Super Tackle on Surender Gill and Ankit Beniwal pushed Nitesh out of bounds to keep Yoddha at touching distance.

U.P. had a 3-point advantage going into the last minutes but with just two men on the mat, they were staring at an ALL OUT. But Yoddha produced two successive Super Tackles to stretch the lead again. Adarsh’s 2-point raid again reduced the lead again for Titans, but Yoddha's Pardeep Narwal held his nerves on multiple occasions to prevent an ALL OUT. His calmness in the final minute raids got him a Super 10 and helped U.P. clinch a 6-point win in the second match of Triple Panga night.

Bengal Warriors share spoils with U Mumba

Star raider Maninder Singh's 17 points performance was not enough for Bengal Warriors to register their fifth win in the ongoing edition of the Pro Kabaddi League. Bengal Warriors started the match on a bright note and ended the first half with a score of 19-17. However, they could not maintain their two-point lead till the end of the match as U Mumba fought back ferociously in the last minutes of the match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wej1ggpLFSM

U Mumba has now climbed up to the sixth position in the points table with 28 points, while Bengal Warriors are in the eighth position. They have 25 points after 10 matches in PKL Season 8.

Maninder Singh has now scored eight consecutive Super-10s in the ongoing edition of the league. He will be looking to continue his good run in the upcoming match against Telugu Titans.

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