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Best Defender of the Match – Sachin Shingade (Dabang Delhi)
Best Raider of the Match – Meraj Sheykh (Dabang Delhi)
This can be easily termed as the greatest upset in the history of Pro Kabaddi and Dabang Delhi have silenced many critics tonight. Patna had a terribly off night and Delhi capitalised on every opportunity to pull off an amazing victory. They managed to keep Pardeep Narwal off the court and that is exactly what helped them to achieve this stunning result. Meraj Sheykh was an inspiration and it seems as if he is going to be their captain for the entire season.
FULL TIME Patna Pirates 15-33 Dabang Delhi
39’ Patna Pirates 14 – 32 Dabang Delhi – The Delhi defence, in combination with their inspirational captain Meraj Sheykh, have been on point tonight but not on that occasion as Pardeep Narwal escapes them to pull one back. Excellent jump over Meraj. T Selvamani runs down the clock and Delhi get even with Pardeep Narwal as D Suresh Kumar gets hold of Patna’s star raider to extend his team’s lead to 19. One minute to go
37’ Patna Pirates 11 – 31 Dabang Delhi – Oh how have the tables turned here!! Patna might be on course to get the lowest score in the history of Pro Kabaddi against a team that they defeated to get the highest total in the tournament’s history. They have to score at least 17. Nothing is going right for them tonight and with three minutes to go, it is hard to imagine that Patna can make a comeback.
35’ Patna Pirates 10 – 30 Dabang Delhi – Patna are just having an off day today and Pardeep Narwal has become Sachin Shingade’s bunny. He effects an incredible thigh hold on Patna’s huge raider. An empty raid by Delhi is followed by them pulling Kuldeep down through D Gopu, who goes low on the Patna players’ ankle. Vikas Khandola is tackled by the Patna defence but Delhi get a point as Hodage goes off the court.
31’ Patna Pirates 9 – 26 Dabang Delhi – Delhi are running away with this game and Patna do not have a clue about what is happening. After opening a double digit lead, Meraj Sheykh comes to attack with a Super Tackle on and evades Fazel Atrachali to inflict the second ALL OUT of the game on Patna. Just over nine minutes to go and Delhi will need to commit suicide to lose this game. A revival on? Let’s see
29’ Patna Pirates 9 – 20 Dabang Delhi – Things are looking quite shocking here as Patna are terribly off their game tonight. Pardeep Narwal gets tackled by Sanket Chavan and goes off the mat yet again. Delhi get into a 10 point lead with T Selvamani attacking to gain a touch point. Patna have not yet entered double digits and that is not a surprise since Pardeep has been off court for a long time. Vikas Khandola gets another do or die raid with a superb turn to evade an eager Kuldeep
26’ Patna Pirates 9 – 17 Dabang Delhi – Patna try to play for the do or die raid with the Super Tackle on but Meraj Sheykh forces an error out of Atrachali and then gets in low on Mondal to get him. ALL OUT !!!! Delhi have taken a 9 point lead. Is this happening for real ???
23’ Patna Pirates 8 – 12 Dabang Delhi – Kuldeep starts the second half with an empty raid and Meraj follows it up with another one. Cheralathan, looking to work with a plan, goes and forces Delhi to take the initiative. Delhi are not bothered and Selvamani runs down the clock as well. Mahesh Goud attacks on a do or die raid and gets the running hand touch. Excellent substitution. Do or die raid for Delhi and Khandola does well to avoid Kuldeep’s ankle hold.
Can Delhi actually go on and effect an upset here? They have been playing to their strengths and have managed to keep the big guns, Pardeep Narwal and Rajesh Mondal, quiet. Meraj Sheykh, their captain on the night, has been quite an inspiration. If they start the second half with an early all out! An upset is on for sure. We will find out! Stay tuned!
HALF TIME Patna Pirates 7 – 11 Dabang Delhi
20’ Patna Pirates 7 – 11 Dabang Delhi - AbolFazel tries to get another Do or die raid correct but Sanket Chavan will not have it. Delhi lead as Meraj Sheykh attacks with the Super Tackle on. The buzzer raid by Kuldeep is a formality as Delhi go into the break with a lead of four points. An upset on the cards here? Delhi are leading Patna by 4 points.
18’ Patna Pirates 7 – 9 Dabang Delhi - Kuldeep’s perfect ankle hold on Rai brings Pardeep Narwal back on the mat but he is immediately sent back by a brillant double ankle hold by Sachin Shingade. He has been amazing tonight, getting the better of the Patna attack. Kuldeep now raids but decides to not do anything silly. Selvamani attacks with Patna having five men on the mat. Patna skipper Cheralathan returns the favour. Two minutes to go!
15’ Patna Pirates – Dabang Delhi - Meraj’s do or die raid is destroyed completely by Fazel Atrachali and Kuldeep but Delhi return the favour by taking down Rajesh Mondal in Patna’s do or die raid. Delhi are doing well to maintain their lead in the game and are doing well to play safe. Kuldeep comes on to raid and looks to force defence out of the mat but remains unsuccessful. Khandola raids for the first time but gets nothing.
12’ Patna Pirates 5 – 7 Dabang Delhi - What was that!!!!! Stunning stunning!!! Atrachali literally lifts up T Selvamani on the do or die raid to effect one of the best tackles of the night but Sachin Shingade immediately returns the favour. Delhi still in the lead with two points but Patna are looking quite caml and composed. Sanket Chavan attacks for Delhi but tries to run down the clock. Eight minutes to go in the first half.
9’ Patna Pirates 4 – 6 Dabang Delhi - Patna Pirates show why they are champs and Delhi show poor judgement yet again. A slew of tackles and points from Patna gives puts the deficit to just one point. Pardeep is revived but goes back empty handed and now Meraj holds on to Rajesh Mondal to keep Delhi in the lead.
6’ Patna Pirates 3 – 5 Dabang Delhi - Delhi get two consecutive tackles to get Rajesh, Pardeep and Kuldeep off the court. Cheralathan decides to force the do or die raid on Delhi but a wonderful running touch by Rai gets the captain off the mat as well. Delhi are on the verge of getting an All Out. Meraj attacks with a Super Tackle on but decides to be intelligent. AbolFazel comes on for a do or die raid and like last match, gets two points. Stunning
3’ Patna Pirates 1 – 3 Dabang Delhi - Selvamani gets the game underway with an empty raid and Rajesh Mondal, the cool one, comes on for Patna Pirates but decides to be safe and returns. Meraj, Delhi‘s captain on the night, also comes back empty handed but not Pardeep Narwal, who gets Sachin Shingade off the mat with an excellent touch point but Selvamani effects a toe touch to bring his defender back. D Suresh Kumar uses his strength to effect a block. Delhi lead in early stages.
Let’s go!!!!
The Patna Pirates starting line-up is not surprising with Pardeep Narwal, Rajesh Mondal, Kuldeep Singh, Vijin, Bajirao Hodage, Fazal Atrachali and Dharmaraj Cheralathan. No Kashiling Adake in the starting line-up for Dabang Delhi?? That is totally bizarre from Sagar Bandekar or is it the right decision? Meraj Sheykh and Selvamani will need to shoulder the raiding responsibility for tonight’s game. Will not being selected have a detrimental effect on Kashi’s psychology? Captain being dropped can never be good for a team.
Catch all the action and live commentary from this game in Hindi here.
Good evening friends! We are back with the coverage of the Pro Kabaddi 2016 Season 4 and it is the Patna Pirates, who take on Dabang Delhi at the Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna. The home side are in scintillating form and it would take a monumental effort from Dabang Delhi to stop them from winning. It would be interesting to see tactics used by Dabang Delhi to stop Patna, who, like a road roller, are basically demolishing everything that comes in their way.
Dabang Delhi come into this match with no confidence whatsoever as they lost their last match to Jaipur Pink Panthers, who gave them a proper beating by 25 points and exposed their incredible defensive shortcomings. The team from the national capital has not been able to get anything right so far and save their win against Bengaluru Bulls, Dabang Delhi have looked a bit clueless.
Right at the outset, they have not used Meraj Sheykh properly and when they did, the Iranian showed why he is such a good player. Their coach had previously mentioned how he would want to use Sheykh to improve their results but the action has not been there. To make things worse, their captain and star raider Kashiling Adake has been terribly off colour and seems as if captaincy has taken a toll on him.
Talking about Patna Pirates would seem like an advertisement to anyone who reads about their Pro Kabaddi 2016 Season 4 campaign. The defending champions are sitting pretty at the top of the table, winning all of their five games and some of them by absolutely demolishing opponents. Patna have played five games, which is less than what U Mumba (2nd on the table), Jaipur Pink Panthers (3rd) and Puneri Paltan (4th).
Pardeep Narwal and Rajesh Mondal have shown exceptional attacking prowess, converting raids into points on a regular basis. The former has been particularly severe on opponents, grabbing Super 10s on more than one occasion in the tournament. Rajesh Mondal, cool as you like, has delivered whenever his team has needed him. However, the exception quality of their attack should not take anything away from their defence led by captain Dharmaraj Cheralathan.
It would be hard to see Dabang Delhi beating Patna Pirates tonight, especially when the latter are playing at home and are in this kind of form. However, Kabaddi is a funny old game that knows no constants. A good example of the same would be how Puneri Paltan beat U Mumba for the first time in Pro Kabaddi history in season 4.
Key Talking Points
Patna Pirates
Pardeep Narwal will be facing the main pillar of Delhi's defence, Sachin Shingade and D. Gopu tonight. He should target Sachin on the left cover position as he has been the best defender for Delhi this season so far. And Pardeep will be ably supported by Rajesh Mondal from the right side.
Dabang Delhi
Raider Kashiling Adake will be up against Bajirao Hodage of Patna. Bajirao can dash him if he goes deep in the left corner. So, Kashi should try to target Bajirao with his running hand touches rather going deep in the corner.
