Dabang Delhi K.C. overcome Bengaluru Bulls to cement maiden final appearance

Dabang Delhi K.C. qualified for their first-ever vivo Pro Kabaddi final after a 44-38 win over Bengaluru Bulls at the EKA Arena by TransStadia in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. Naveen Kumar scored 15 raid points for Dabang Delhi K.C. on the night, while Anil Kumar was their best defender with four Tackle Points.

Dabang Delhi K.C. began the match on the front foot and, after some good raiding as well as defending, they went on to inflict an All Out in just the fourth minute to take a 9-3 lead. Bengaluru Bulls demonstrated some fight after the reset courtesy of their talisman Pawan Sehrawat. Some good work by the ‘Hi-Flyer’ helped reduce Dabang Delhi K.C.’s lead to just three points at one stage.

However, Dabang Delhi K.C. regained control of the game after successfully tackling Sehrawat. They then enforced another All Out following good work on both ends of the mat to extend their advantage to 21-10.

Dabang Delhi K.C seemed like they were about to enforce a third All Out before halftime, but some good defensive work, which included a Super Tackle by Saurabh Nandal, meant that Bengaluru Bulls went into the break trailing 26-18.

The first point of the second period went to Dabang Delhi K.C. but Bengaluru Bulls responded with another Super Tackle; this time by Mahender Singh, which also revived Sehrawat. Back on the mat after a long duration on the bench, Sehrawat executed two successful raids to get his team within five points of Dabang Delhi K.C. A successful tackle by Chandran Ranjit on Sehrawat, though, stopped the reigning champions from building up a head of steam.

The final quarter of the contest saw Dabang Delhi K.C. protect their lead in diligent fashion. Their defenders were alive and wary on court, while Naveen and Vijay ensured that they kept scoring raid points on a consistent basis, as Bengaluru Bulls succumbed to a third All Out with less than three minutes to play. Dabang Delhi K.C. then ran the clock down intelligently in the final few minutes and eventually registered a six-point victory.

Top Performers:

Dabang Delhi K.C. –

Best Raider – Naveen Kumar (15 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Anil Kumar (4 Tackle Points)

Bengaluru Bulls –

Best Raider – Pawan Sehrawat (18 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Mahender Singh (2 Tackle Points)