Naveen stars again as Dabang Delhi K.C. outshine Telugu Titans

Siddharth Desai’s Super 10 wasn’t enough for Telugu Titans as they went down to Dabang Delhi K.C., pillared by Naveen Kumar’s 14th successive Super 10 and a calculative defence, by a scoreline of 29-37 at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge, Balewadi in Pune on Monday.

Desai got Telugu Titans off the mark in the match and handed his team an early lead against the league toppers. It looked like Dabang Delhi K.C.’s offence would be contained on the night after Naveen was kept in check early in the game, that included a Super Tackle from Rakesh Gowda that kept Telugu Titans ahead.

Naveen was the subject of another Super Tackle minutes later at the hands of Abozar Mighani that extended Telugu Titans’ advantage to four. But then Dabang Delhi. K.C. came together, led by a two-point raid from Naveen Kumar, and a solid combined defence that inflicted the first All Out of the match on Telugu Titans.

The two teams then exchanged points leading up to the half - highlighted by another Naveen two-pointer, that included a bonus, and a Farhad Milaghardan raid that got Ravinder Pahal and Joginder Narwal out - with the home team leading 18-15.

At the restart, the two teams continued to play on par but Dabang Delhi K.C. edged further as the clock ticked away. With a combination of Naveen’s raids and timely contribution from the defence, Dabang Delhi K.C. scored seven unanswered points that saw Telugu Titans All Out for the second time in the match. The score now read 29-18 with Telugu Titans trailing by 11 points.

When the players reassembled, Telugu Titans went on the attack and added three straight points - that included Desai’s two successful raids - and got the deficit down to eight. However, the gap didn’t reduce any further as Naveen’s opportune raids added to Dabang Delhi K.C.’s tally and ballooned the gap to 11 again at 35-24 with just five minutes left.

Desai added a couple of successful raids and Vishal Bhadwaj managed two tackles, but the gap proved just too much as Telugu Titans went down by eight points.

Top Performers:

Telugu Titans

Best Raider – Siddharth Desai (12 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Rakesh Gowda (3 Tackle Points)


Dabang Delhi K.C.

Best Raider –Naveen Kumar (12 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Anil Kumar (4 Tackle Points)