Pro Kabaddi League 2018, Match 99: Dabang Delhi KC vs Tamil Thalaivas, Player Ratings

The final match of the Delhi leg of the Pro Kabaddi League 2018 had the home side Dabang Delhi KC face off against their South Indian counterparts Tamil Thalaivas at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium.

The home side Dabang Delhi KC came into this match on the back of three wins in a row as they hoped to keep their strong home record intact. The raiding unit has been especially effective with the trio of Meraj Sheykh, Chandran Ranjit and Naveen Kumar operating well. The defence has used their experience well to thwart the opposition raiders as the Delhi side has grown from strength to strength as the season has progressed.

The Tamil Thalaivas have been inconsistent in their run lately with two wins from their past five matches. The defence has shown glimpses of brilliance with Manjeet Chillar in the fray but will hope for more consistency. The raiding department has been led by their skipper Ajay Thakur who has found support from Sukesh Hegde.

Dabang Delhi KC won their fourth match in a row as they resisted a second-half comeback from the Tamil Thalaivas powered by Ajay Thakur's Super 10 to win the match with a 37-33 scoreline.

The first half began strongly for the home side Dabang Delhi KC as they took control of proceedings and got the early all-out in the match inside the first ten minutes. Vishal Mane was at his best in the defence with his strong blocks and dashes. Meraj Sheykh and Naveen Kumar troubled the Thalaivas' defence with their raiding skills. Tamil Thalaivas mounted a comeback in the later minutes of the half as Ajay Thakur struck form to reduce the deficit. The half ended with the Dabang Delhi side leading 16-11 over the Tamil Thalaivas.

The second period of the match saw Ajay Thakur lead the charge scoring at a high rate as the Tamil Thalaivas mounted a comeback. They managed to sneak in a point in the end as the match ended 37-33 in favour of the home side Dabang Delhi KC. They end their home leg with five wins from six matches played.

Dabang Delhi KC

Joginder Narwal - (4/10)

The Dabang Delhi skipper Joginder Narwal had a fairly quiet outing on the left corner. He scored a couple of tackle points with his classic ankle holds and led the side well.

Ravinder Pahal - (4/10)

The experienced right corner defender was a tad hasty in his tackle attempts tonight giving away points to Ajay Thakur but managed to pick up a couple of tackle points.

Naveen Kumar - (7.5/10)

The young raider Naveen Kumar had a productive night in the raiding unit of the home side. He picked up timely points with his energetic raiding and had six raid points before being substituted in the second half of the match. He came back and picked up a couple of raid points to end with eight raid points.

Meraj Sheykh - (8/10)

The Iranian all-rounder was the leading raider yet again for the Delhi side as he troubled the Tamil Thalaivas' defence with his dynamic raiding. He finished just shy of a Super Raid notching nine points including three bonus points.

Chandran Ranjit - (3/10)

The raider had a quiet night against the Tamil Thalaivas with just one raid point from five attempted raids and was in and out of the lineup throughout the match.

Rajesh Narwal - (2/10)

The all-rounder had a poor game with his mistimed tackle attempts and was soon replaced by Satpal Narwal in the first half.

Vishal Mane - (7.5/10)

The cover defender finished the home leg on a strong note as he notched a High 5 with his strong tackles. He got a Super Tackle in the final minutes of the match putting the game out of reach of the Tamil Thalaivas.

Substitutes:

Satpal Narwal - (3/10)

The substitute defender replaced Rajesh Narwal in the lineup and picked up one tackle point on the left corner.

Tamil Thalaivas

Ajay Thakur scored a Super 10 and was the best raider on the mat

Ajay Thakur - (9/10)

The Tamil Thalaivas skipper had a slow start to the match tonight and scored four raid points in the first half. He picked the pace up in the second half and scored ten points to lead the comeback for the Thalaivas, finishing with fourteen raid points tonight.

Athul MS - (6/10)

The youngster Athul MS got a start tonight and did well to start off the scoring for the Thalaivas with a couple of bonus point attempts. He finished with five raid points and all of them were bonus points.

Sukesh Hegde - (5/10)

The supporting raider did well to keep the scoreboard ticking picking up a couple of raid points in the first half. He scored five raid points in the end including a couple of bonus points.

D Pradap - (3/10)

The young all-rounder had a quiet night in the Thalaivas' lineup as he failed to pick up a tackling point from the left corner.

Manjeet Chillar - (5/10)

The experienced all-rounder was leading the charge for the Thalaivas' defence tonight from the cover position. He picked up two tackle points and crossed the 300 tackle points mark in his Pro Kabaddi League career.

P Subramanian - (3/10)

The youngster in the cover defensive position was a bit hasty with his tackle attempts. He was targeted on multiple occasions by the Dabang Delhi KC raiders and had just one tackling point tonight.

Amit Hooda - (2/10)

The right corner of the Thalaivas was guilty of putting in late tackles giving away easy touch points to the Delhi raiders. He was subbed off in the first half and Anil Kumar came on to replace him.

Substitutes:

Anil Kumar - (3/10)

The all-rounder came off the bench to replace Amit Hooda in the first half and had one tackle point with an ankle hold at the right corner.