Sheykh stars as Dabang Delhi K.C. take winning momentum into Playoffs

Dabang Delhi K.C. claimed their second victory over Bengal Warriors this season on Sunday as they came out 37-31 victors at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium in Kolkata. Meraj Sheykh managed 13 raid points on the night, including a Super Raid in his last raid of the game, to ensure that Dabang Delhi K.C. go into the Playoffs on a high.

Maninder Singh got an electric start for Bengal Warriors as he returned a Super Raid in the very first raid of the match with touches on Joginder Narwal, Vishal Mane and Viraj Vishnu Landge. Naveen Kumar put Dabang Delhi K.C. on the board immediately after, taking them just one shy of the home team. A double Ankle Hold by Narwal on Maninder then gave Dabang Delhi K.C. their first lead of the game in the 4^th minute.

Check out the photos from the match here.

With Bengal Warriors leading 10-7, Baldev Singh and Jang Kun Lee stepped out of the playing area and Naveen Kumar managed a bonus to level the scores at 10-10 in the 11^th minute. Meraj Sheykh came into his own after that as he first got a touch on Ran Singh to reduce Bengal Warriors to two men on the mat before getting touches on Surjeet Singh and Bhupender Singh off his very next raid to inflict the first All-Out of the game in the 16^th minute. Sheykh also got to 300 VIVO Pro Kabaddi raid points courtesy of that raid.

Bengal Warriors got their first tackle points of the game in the 18^th minute by way of a Surjeet Singh Block on Naveen before a touch by Lee on Ravinder Pahal got them the final point of the half. Dabang Delhi K.C. maintained their six-point advantage and went into the half 20-14 ahead.

Bengal Warriors got the first three points of the second half as well to get momentum on their side. A touch on Narwal by Maninder reduced Dabang Delhi K.C. to a solitary player before Ran Singh helped Bengal Warriors inflict their first All-Out of the game in the sixth minute. By way of the All-Out, Bengal Warriors had brought the deficit down to just one point as the scores read 22-21.

A hold by Ran Singh on Naveen Kumar helped Bengal Warriors regain the lead in the seventh minute before the teams started playing on the Do-or-Die raids. An excellent Back Hold by Baldev Singh on Chandran Ranjit gave Bengal Warriors the early advantage in that sequence; however, a two-point raid by Sheykh put Dabang Delhi K.C. back ahead with six minutes to play.

Another two-point raid by Sheykh gave him his Super 10 in the 15^th minute. However, a Block by Manoj Dhull on Sheykh helped Bengal Warriors inflict the first Super Tackle of the game in the 17^th minute to reduce the deficit to a point.

Visit the matchcentre to relive the contest here.

Another Super Tackle followed in the 19^th minute for Bengal Warriors as Bhupender Singh managed to get an Ankle Hold on Naveen Kumar to level the scores at 31-31. However, Sheykh then managed to get a Super Raid in the final minute of the game as he got touches on Bhupender, Ran and Surjeet to help inflict Dabang Delhi K.C.’s second All-Out of the night and put them in command of the game. Maninder Singh stepped out of the playing area in Bengal Warriors’ final raid to give Dabang Delhi K.C. a 37-31 win.

Top Performers

Bengal Warriors

Best Raider: Maninder Singh (9 raid points)

Best Defender: Bhupender Singh (2 tackle points)

Dabang Delhi K.C.

Best Raider: Meraj Sheykh (13 raid points)

Best Defender: Ravinder Pahal (2 tackle points)