Naveen Kumar powers Delhi to victory, Mumbai decimate Titans in PKL 8

The veteran raider scored 18 points for the capital-based side.

Naveen Kumar proved once again why he is considered the best raider in kabaddi by helping Dabang Delhi K.C. beat U.P. Yoddha 37-33 in Match 40 of vivo Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 8 at The Sheraton Grand, Whitefield, Bengaluru. The opening game of the Triple Panga night saw the Yoddha defenders give Naveen Kumar a tough time with aggressive tackles, but the young raider still found a way past them to ensure his Delhi side emerged victorious.

U.P. Yoddha didn’t do a lot wrong on the night with Pardeep Narwal and Surender Gill scoring nine points each. Unfortunately for them, it was just another outstanding performance from Naveen Kumar who scored 18 points including one for the tackle. The result helped Dabang Delhi K.C. regain the top spot on the PKL points table.

U.P. started the match with a steely determination to stop Delhi’s Naveen Kumar from running away with the points. Yoddha’s corner duo of Nitesh Kumar and Sumit were at their aggressive best as they thwarted the Delhi’s raider. At the other end, Pardeep Narwal looked confident against the error-prone Delhi defence. He picked crucial points off left cover Manjit Chhillar and guided Yoddha to their first ALL OUT with 5 minutes remaining.

Yoddha continued the aggressive approach in the remainder of the first half, with Shubham Kumar also impressing in defence. Naveen Kumar was benched five times in a half that ended 18-13 in favour of U.P. Yoddha in the PKL.

If U.P. thought they had found a solution to stop Naveen Kumar, they were in for a rude surprise. The first 10 minutes of the first half belonged completely to the Delhi raider who started it all with a tackle on his nemesis of Pardeep Narwal. He then went on to chip points off the Yoddha defence and eventually helped Delhi clinch an ALL OUT. He scored yet another Super 10 as Delhi opened a 3-point lead with five minutes remaining. The lead proved too much for the Yoddha raiders to claw back as Delhi sealed an important win in the PKL Season 8.

U Mumba decimate Telugu Titans

U Mumba produced a stellar all-round performance to decimate Telugu Titans 48-38 in Match 41 of vivo Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 at The Sheraton Grand, Whitefield, Bengaluru. The second match of Triple Panga night was extremely one-sided with Titans failing to match a motivated U Mumba. Right corner Rinku picked up a High 5 (7 points) for U Mumba while raider Abhishek Singh impressed with a Super 10 (13 points). The only bright spot for Titans was their substitute left corner Muhammed Shihas who clinched a High 5 (5 tackle points).

If the story of the first half were to be made into a film, it would have probably been titled “Annihilation of Titans”. U Mumba dominated right from the starting whistle with everyone on the mat contributing with points. Fazel Atrachali and his men didn’t care about Rajnish and Ankit Beniwal’s previous outings, pouncing on the Telugu raiders at the slightest opportunity.

At the other end, Abhishek Singh and Ajith Kumar continued their good form, finding raid points at will. U Mumba fetched their first ALL OUT in the 9th minute to open a 7-point lead. Having the 7 players on the mat once again didn’t help the Titans who struggled against a razor-sharp defence. Mumbai had their second ALL OUT with 5 minutes to interval and finished the half with a 15-point lead (28-13).

The Telugu Titans team tried their level best to match Mumbai in the early minutes of the second half. Ruturaj Koravi and Muhammed Shihas produced Super Tackles but U Mumba eventually found another ALL OUT in the 10th minute to open a massive 17-point lead. 

The Titans struggled to find any raid points despite the best efforts from Galla Raju and Rakesh Gowda. But U Mumba lost their in-form raider Ajith Kumar to a back injury with 6 minutes remaining as the Titans sensed a slow shift in momentum. They got an ALL OUT with 4 minutes remaining when Ankit Beniwal found both the Mumbai defenders on the mat. Muhammed Shihas reached a High 5 despite coming in as a substitute but Abhishek Singh clinched his Super 10 to win the match for Mumbai with a 10-point difference.

For more updates, follow Khel Now Kabaddi on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and join our community on Telegram.