Dabang Delhi registered a convincing 45-22 win over Puneri Paltan in the Pro Kabaddi League at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bangalore on Monday.
The Delhi outfit dominated the match, but despite the win find themselves without any hope of making it to the semifinals as they are near the bottom of the points table in sixth place. For their opponents Puneri Paltan, in last place, the match was purely of academic interest.
Going into the game, the boys from Pune were in woeful form and as the game progressed it became clear why. One of Puneri Paltan's problems has been that they concede points early on. This problem was on view in this game against Dabang Delhi as well.
Kashiling Adake and Surjeet Narwal, the two reputed raiders of Dabang Delhi, took the bull by the horns as they went on the attack early on. The boys from Pune were all at sea in the face of this attack.
Soon, the Delhi side had racked up a sizable ten-point lead as the score read 15-5. Puneri Paltan did manage to hit back with a few points of theirs but the defense was not holding up as they kept on conceding points. As halftime came the score was 20-0 in favour of Dabang Delhi.
Puneri Paltan, at this juncture, would have been hoping for some respite in the second half. There was, however, no respite as Delhi continued in the same aggressive manner. It was Adake who began the point-scoring early on in the second half with a raid. This incidentally was his hundredth raid in the tournament.
Dabang Delhi continued to rack up the points as Puneri Paltan went from bad to worse. Soon Delhi had seized a massive 18-point lead as the score read 28-10. The boys from Pune clearly seemed out of it.
In the end, the Puneri Paltan skipper Wazir Singh mounted a few raids of his own and scored, but, by then Delhi had ensured the game was in the bag as they ended their tournament on a winning note.
Points Table--
1[ Jaipur Pink Panthers -- 53 points
2] U Mumba -- 46 points
3] Patna Pirates -- 45 points
4] Telugu Titans -- 41 points
5] Bengaluru Bulls -- 37 points
6] Dabang Delhi -- 32 points
7] Bengal Warriors -- 24 points
8] Puneri Paltan -- 16 points