Pro Kabaddi League 2019 | Match 9: Tamil Thalaivas vs Dabang Delhi K.C. Review | 25th July 2019

Dabang Delhi and Tamil Thalaivas were coming from a win in their first match of the season, with both having beaten Telugu Titans. Displaying a brilliant performance in his first match of PKL 2019, Raid Machine from Thalaivas, Rahul Chaudhari was all ready to lock horns with the young prodigy Naveen Kumar from the Dabangs of Delhi.

To snatch a lead on the scorers' table, both teams were looking for a win. Read to find out how the encounter between the South and North teams proceeded.

Starting 7s

Tamil Thalaivas: Ajay Thakur (Captain), Ajeet, Manjeet Chhillar, Mohit Chhillar, Ran Singh, Rahul Chaudhari, Shabeer Bappu

Dabang Delhi K.C: Joginder Narwal (Captain), Naveen Kumar, Ravinder Pahal, Anil Kumar, Meraj Sheykh, Chandran Ranjit, Vishal Mane

Toss

Tamil Thalaivas won the toss and chose the court.

Chandran Ranjit started the match for Delhi and returned empty-handed. Iceman Ajay Thakur, the skipper of Tamil, hand-touched Vishal Mane and fished out the first point of the night. Ran Singh successfully attempted a tackle for his team and caught hold of the Iranian Wall, Meraj.

Ajeet, the cover defender from the Thalaivas, became the first defender to tackle Naveen Kumar in PKL 2019. Reduced to just two players in the seventh minute of the match, Ajay Thakur stepped out in the lobby and unfortunately gave an easy point to Delhi.

Performing another super tackle, Delhi tied their score with the Thalaivas. Joginder made a rookie mistake by stepping out of the backline, reducing his team to just two players. In the 11th minute of the match, Thalaivas inflicted an all-out on Delhi, marking a lead on the scoreboard with 13-6.

It was a laudable performance by the Thalaivas' defense as they were successful in keeping Delhi's raiders at bay. Manjeet, in the 15th minute of the match, took a successful review, in favor of Shabeer.

Scoring a two-pointer, Chaudhari was flying like a free-bird on the mat. However, in the next raid, he attempted an advance tackle on Naveen, giving away two points to the young prodigy.

Joginder, the captain of Delhi, made the same schoolboy mistake and once again stepped out of the backline, only to be sent off the mat. At half-time, the scoreboard read 18-11, with the Thalaivas of Tamil leading.

Right after the half-time, Meraj was triumphant in holding Ajith back and picking up a point for his team. A skillful raid by Sheykh, he sent Manjeet and Mohit off the mat, bagging two points.

Rahul, targeting Pahal with a top-class hand touch, once again scooped in a point for the Thalaivas. Naveen scored for Delhi, lessening the strength of Tamil to just two, for the first time in the clash.

Naveen, despite raiding efficiently, went out of bounds, gifting two points to the opponents. When Joginder challenged the matter, his review was deemed futile. With just ten minutes remaining in the face-off, the score of 18-23 fluctuated in the Thalaivas' direction.

After another super tackle by the Thalaivas, Delhi slipped into deeper trouble. Manjeet was on fire throughout the night, blowing everyone's minds with some world-class tackles. He even completed his high-five for the second time this season. Saeid Ghaffari, brought in as a substitute, took out Rahul with a wonderful tackle, scoring for the Dabangs' squad.

Naveen beautifully slipped out of the rivals' court and scored the first super raid of the night. Right after, Ajay Thakur was tackled by Delhi's defense, receiving an all-out.

As the minutes passed by, the score was once again on 29 each, with just two minutes left. The match was surprisingly turning into a neck-to-neck battle. Brought down to the last second, the fans were seen biting the nails off in anxiety.

Manjeet made a huge mistake and went out of bounds. Trying to cover up the matter, he took a review, which was unsuccessful.

Serving the victory to Dabang Delhi, Tamil lost the match, with 29-30. Delhi's performance was mind-boggling, given how far behind the Thalaivas they were in the last few minutes. They were seen hugging and jumping on the mat with euphoria, post the match. Nevertheless, this was a perfect example of how just one mistake can cost you the victory.