Pro Kabaddi League 2017: Haryana Steelers beat Dabang Delhi; Bengal Warriors edge past Telugu Titans

New Delhi, Sep 13: Hosts Haryana Steelers defeated Dabang Delhi 27-24 as they resumed their winning momentum in the Pro Kabaddi League 2017 on Tuesday (September 12) at the Motilal Nehru School of Sports in Sonepat.

While in another game, Bengal Warriors edged past Telugu Titans 32-31 in a match that went down the wire.

Haryana registered their seventh win in the tournament and place themselves at the second spot in the points table in Zone A. Meanwhile after the hard fought win against Titans, Warriors have now maintained their top position in the points table in Zone B with seven wins and four losses.

Haryana Steelers rekindled their winning momentum at the Motilal Nehru School of Sports in Sonepat as Wazir Singh emerged as their best performer of the night with a game-high 10 points.

Wazir got the hosts on the scoreboard with a two-point raid, while Delhi had to wait until the fourth minute of the contest for their first point of the game after a successful raid by Abolfazl Maghsodlou. Both sides kept trading punches up until the ninth minute when Wazir pulled off a stunning five-point super raid to usher in an All-Out on Delhi a minute later for a 12-4 lead.

The last five minutes of the half witnessed the Steelers extend their lead on the back of some handy defensive work and clinical raiding by Deepak Kumar Dahiya as well as Surjeet Singh to take a 17-8 lead into the break.

Delhi began the second period intent on clawing back the deficit but a superb tackle on Anand Patil by Haryana in the 25th minute took some of the stuffing out of the visitors. However, Maghsodlou wasn't having any of that and earned a two-point raid four minutes later to enforce an All-Out on the Steelers to cut the lead down to 20-17.

Haryana though managed to regroup and produce some of their best moments of the game during the final 10 minutes. Their defence was at its best and played its role to a tee by tackling the dangerous Maghsodlou. Superb tackles along with some excellent raiding by Wazir and Dahiya helped Haryana take a five-point lead into the last four minutes.

A two-point raid by Patil and a successful tackle on Wazir though all of a sudden put the cat amongst the pigeons for the hosts, who saw their lead cut down to two points with a little more than two minutes to play.

That being said, Haryana once again managed to show their resolve with successful tackles on Maghsodlou and Patil, which helped them see off Delhi's valiant and resilient fight back, and with that, they also returned to winning ways at home.

Meanwhile, Jang Kun Lee's 9 points and Surjeet Singh's High 5 overcame Nilesh Salunke's Super 10 performance as Zone B toppers Bengal Warriors showed their class against Telugu Titans.

The main raiders from both the teams started the proceedings. While Rahul Chaudhari failed to score, Maninder Singh opened the Warriors account with a bonus point. Salunke and Lee also came forth in successive raids to pick up bonuses.

After a calm start, the Titans decided to up their defensive game and only went for the kill in the do-or-die raids. Both Salunke and Mohsen Maghsoudlou were successful in their respective do-or-die raids to take a three-point lead (8-5) by the 10th minute. However, the Warriors were not to be thwarted and they came back strongly with two successive super tackles led by their effervescent captain Surjeet Singh to tie the score at 9 each by the 15th minute.

With Chaudhari maintaining a low profile to ensure he spent the maximum amount of time on the mat, Salunke rose to the occasion to push the Warriors to the brink of an All-Out. In the 18th minute, the Warriors eventually suffered the inevitable. The Titans strategy to keep Maninder off the mat worked as he spent almost 10 minutes off the court and the southerners entered the breather with a 15-12 lead.

Bengal Warriors started the second half with intent as the combination of Maninder and Lee picked up three successive touch points to set the pace of the half and limit the Titans to four men on the mat. Surjeet's brilliant defensive display continued as he achieved his High 5 in the 25th minute after a single-handed block on Chaudhari.

With 10 minutes into the half and only two points separating the two teams, the match was far from over. However, the Titans surged ahead in 33rd minute holding the hands of none other than Salunke. He pulled off a brilliant super raid which gifted his team four mega points and again took the Warriors to the brink of an All-Out. The Warriors' second All-Out of the match came a minute later with the scoreline reading 20-30 in the Titans' favour.