Naveen and Pawan star, as Dabang Delhi and Bengaluru Bulls play out a thrilling tie

Naveen Kumar and Pawan Sehrawat delivered a duel to remember, as Dabang Delhi K.C. and Bengaluru Bulls shared the spoils after a 36-36 tie. The reigning MVP scored 13 points, while Sehrawat finished with 17. The result meant Delhi retained the top spot on the vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 8 points table.

The superstar raiders were in their element right from the get-go, as they both picked up five points within the first six minutes of the contest. The defences ended the duel, as Sandeep Narwal pinned down Sehrawat before Naveen was swarmed by the entire Bulls team, which sent him to the bench.  

Three unanswered points from Delhi revived Naveen, who added to his tally with a touch point to make it four straight and reduce the Bulls to a solitary man. Deepak Narwal picked up the bonus before being pinned down the defence, which inflicted an All Out and saw Delhi take a 13-8 lead. 

Delhi added three more points to their total and threatened to put the game beyond Bengaluru’s reach. But Bharat and the Bulls’ defence stepped up to help their side outscore Delhi 6-2 in the final three minutes of the half to go into the break trailing by four. 

Sehrawat’s first point of the second half reduced Delhi to a solitary man on the mat, and the defence brought him down without allowing a bonus to inflict an All Out and cut their deficit to one. 

Four more unanswered points from the Bulls saw them take the lead and push Delhi on the brink of another All Out. Bharat and Sehrawat added to their tally to leave Delhi with a solitary man on the mat, and the defence made no mistake in pinning the raider down to push their team’s lead up to eight points.

Delhi’s defence simply could not contain Sehrawat, as the raider added two more points to his team’s total to extend the Bulls’ lead into double digits. But a two-point raid from Vijay kickstarted a Delhi comeback. Krishan’s tackle on Sehrawat, followed by two touch points from Ashu and Naveen, left Bengaluru with just three men on the mat. 

Delhi’s defence pinned down Bharat before Naveen picked up his 11th point of the night, which pushed the Bulls on the brink of an All Out. Delhi’s defence made no mistake in tackling the raider and inflicted an All Out on the Bulls to cut the deficit to a solitary point. 

No sooner had Naveen levelled the scores with a touch point on Jaideep, Sehrawat came through with a two-point raid to give the Bulls the lead.

Naveen cut the deficit to one with a quick touch point, and then Sehrawat went in for the game’s biggest raid. He teased the defence and threatened to unleash a Running Hand Touch but was met by a sensational tackle by Manjeet Chhillar. 

Naveen went in for the game’s final raid and watched the clock wind down to ensure the game finished in a tie. 

Top Performers   

Dabang Delhi K.C.

Best Raider – Naveen Kumar (13 Raid Points) 

Best Defender – Joginder Narwal (4 Tackle Points)

Bengaluru Bulls

Best Raider – Pawan Sehrawat (16 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Saurabh Nandal (2 Tackle Points