PKL: Dabang Delhi, Gujarat Giants share the spoils; Bengaluru Bulls down Bengal Warriors

Bengaluru, Dec. 26: A cagey affair that went down to the last raid finished with Dabang Delhi and Gujarat Giants sharing the points after a 24-24 tie in the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League.

Naveen scored his 24th straight Super 10, while raider Rakesh Narwal led the Giants with nine points.

The first half was a low-scoring grind where neither team could pull away on the scoreboard. The raiders on both teams were in spectacular form, with Giants' raider Rakesh and Rakesh Narwal picking up points consistently and Naveen matching them point-for-point with some support from Vijay.

Both teams managed just a couple of tackle points in the first half, with the raiders offering little for the defences to feast on. The two teams combined for just 23 total points in the first half. They headed into the halftime break, with Delhi holding a slender one-point lead.

The defences continued to starve for points early in the second half, as the raiders on both teams managed to tick the scoreboard. Delhi threatened to pull away, building a three-point lead but were quickly pegged back courtesy of the Giants' defence coming alive and the raiders continuing their excellent work.

A stellar tackle from Ravinder Pahal sent Naveen Kumar to the bench for the first time in the match, and the Giants even managed to reduce Delhi down to just three men on the mat. But they managed to avoid falling too far behind on the scoreboard courtesy of meaningful contributions from the defence and all-rounder Vijay.

With under a minute left in the contest, the Giants, who trailed by one point, forced a Do-or-die situation and Delhi opted to send Neeraj Narwal for the raid. Gujarat's defence came through and pinned the raider down to level the scores. The Giants then sent Rakesh for their Do-or-die, and the young all-rounder delivered, forcing an error from the Delhi defence to give his side the lead.

With the game on the line, Naveen went in for a raid, aiming to pick at least a point to save the game for his side. Pahal, who had tackled him earlier in the game, advanced to deal the fatal blow, but Naveen was wise to it and leapt above the veteran corner to earn his side a point and a tie.

Sehrawat shines for Bengaluru Bulls

In the second match of the day the Bengaluru Bulls put up an all round show to beat defending champions Bengal Warriors.

In a match where both teams went neck-to-neck, Pawan Sehrawat put up an all round show, scoring 15 points for the Bulls, as the Bengaluru side clinched a thrilling 36-35 win over the Warriors.

Source: Pro Kabaddi