Naveen Kumar during raid against Bulls in semifinal 2
Dabang Delhi KC defeated Bengaluru Bulls 40-35 in the second semi-final of Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 to reach two finals in two consecutive seasons. Naveen Kumar took the Super 10 (14 points) as the veteran Delhi stars made it a night out. Remember by getting the comeback win. Pawan Sehrawat (18 points) gave the Bulls a quick start but Delhi turned it in their favor by securing crucial all outs at crucial points of the game. Dabang will now take on Patna Pirates in the final on Friday (25 February).
Bulls started the match brilliantly with Pawan Sehrawat looking in good form. The star raider has a playoff average of over 14 raid points, and made a clear attacking intention from the very first whistle. But Dabang Delhi slowly came back into the game and Naveen Kumar too found some errors in the defense of the Bulls. The experienced Delhi defense controlled the pace of the match and despite Pawan’s best efforts, were all out in the 8th minute to take a 3 point lead.
Pawan Sehrawat’s multi-point raid helped the Bulls level the score immediately. They achieved their Super 10 in the 12th minute as the teams slowed down the attacks. Delhi’s Vijay also swung into action with some important points. With 5 minutes remaining in the first half, the score was equal to 14-14. Bulls raider Chandran Ranjit had to be substituted after a head-on collision with Delhi’s Joginder Narwal. By half time, the score was 17-16 and the Bulls were in a narrow lead.
Bulls could not convert Man Advantage into an all out in the opening minutes of the second half. Krishna’s super tackle gave Delhi momentum and he backed it up by sending Bulls raiders to the bench. Mahendra’s super tackle for Bengaluru in the 6th minute after the interval gave him a chance to make a comeback. But Delhi raider Neeraj Narwal’s 3 point super raid changed the balance of the match once again with 13 minutes remaining. Dabangg completed his second all out in 11 minutes to take a 6-point lead.
Naveen Kumar’s 3-point super raid and Manjeet Chhillar’s solid ankle grip on Pawan Sehrawat ensured that Delhi had a 7-point gap with 5 minutes to go in the semi-finals. Naveen picked up his Super 10 as Delhi kept their calm in the final minutes despite high pressure from the Bengaluru raiding pair of India and Pawan. Pawan made this mistake by making an unsuccessful tackle on Naveen in the last minute. Naveen scored easy points to seal a 5-point victory for Delhi and a place in the final.
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