Dabang Delhi, on top of its attacking game in the first half, led 20-9 against Gujarat Fortunegiants at one stage, before getting rattled by a fightback from its rival at the Balewadi indoor stadium on Sunday. The early poise was replaced by pressure, culminating in a close 34-30 win for Dabang and a secure position atop the table. The Delhi side’s 12th win in 15 matches took it closer to the playoffs.
Fortunegiants suffered two all-outs and looked like getting blown away by the in-form Dabang team. However, it came charged up after the breather, stretching the opponent all the way. Rohit Gulia top-scored with 13 raid points, but his effort went in vain. Naveen Kumar, who finished on the winning side, had his 13th consecutive Super 10 display and crossed 350 raid points along the way. He contributed 12 points.
On the go
The contest started with feisty raiders Naveen and Sachin on the prowl. The former sneaked in and away from the defence while the latter reacted well when the defenders tried to trap him. Both got out once before Naveen made a mark with a Super Raid, eluding three rivals. In the process, he inflicted the first all-out early on in the contest to make it 11-4 for Dabang. Sachin could not repeat the form shown against Puneri Paltan and it had a bearing on the final outcome.
The results: Dabang Delhi 34 (Naveen Kumar 12, Vijay 5) bt Gujarat Fortunegiants 30 (Rohit Gulia 13, Sachin Tanwar 4).
Patna Pirates 55 (Pardeep Narwal 18, Neeraj Kumar 11, Hadi Oshtorak 5) bt Puneri Paltan 33 (Manjeet 8, Pankaj Mohite 7, Nitin Tomar 6) .
