Bengaluru crush Delhi to inch closer to a semis spot

Stunned by the two consecutive defeats on home turf the Bengaluru Bulls came raging back to demolish Dabang Delhi 40-21 in Season 2 of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi today at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium. They treated their guests to three all outs with the first coming in the ninth minute (10-2) and exhibited their clear intent. Bengaluru have 38 points to jump to third place. With Patna winning today, Dabangs (with 26 points) have been pushed to sixth place.

The architect of their win was star raider Ajay Thakur. He had seven raid points of which six helped his team run up a sizable lead of 15-6 at the break. The other player who contributed significantly to the hosts’ victory was the 40-year old Dharmaraj Cheralathan. Mostly known as a solid defender Dharamaraj, popularly called ‘Anna’ also reaped points as a raider towards the end when his side had clinched the issue.

Delhi’s troubles started right from the whistle as Kashiling Adake who was to complete his century of raiding points this season getting ensnared thrice. The other raider Rohit Choudhary too was a victim on a couple of occasions. His score of two points for the match tell the true story. The second all-out came on the stroke of half-time and the lead (21-8) was a clear indication where the match was heading.

Had Kashiling not effected two touches the third all out was round the corner for the Dabangs. Rajesh Mondal the do-or-die specialist got into the act after the break and his five points in four raids widened the gap further to 27-12 by the 31^stminute. Even his and Ajay’s dismissal didn’t improve matters for Delhi. Barring a couple of successful raids by Kashiling, Delhi had nothing to show for their efforts. Rohit kept falling time and again and Selvamani also proved to be a lesser threat to the Bengaluru defence. With the score at 32-14 and five minutes left there was only academic interest left.

MATCH 47 – BENGALURU BULLS VS DABANG DELHI