Jaipur Pink Panthers 39-34 Dabang Delhi: Valiant Eagles go down fighting
Dabang Delhi suffered a 5-point loss against Jaipur Pink Panthers in Kolkata. In a match between two evenly matched sides, the Pink Panthers edged out the Eagles 39-34 in the final stages.
The Pink Panthers won the toss and Navneet Gautam opted for the left side of the mat. Dabang Delhi took an early 2-0 lead, but Ran Singh delivered in a do or die raid. Both the teams exchanged blows in the initial stages and found themselves on level pegging at 6 each at the halfway mark in the first half.
The Eagles took full advantage of Jasvir Singh's absence and took the lead and held on to it till the end of the half. Surjeet Singh and Kashiling Adake had put the Panthers on the verge of an all out at the halfway stage.
HT: Jaipur Pink Panthers 13-15 Dabang Delhi
The second half began with Navneet Gautam's men suffering an all out in the 22nd minute as the Eagles took a sizeable 6 point lead (20-14). However, the match turned on its head in a few minutes and parity was restored after Jaipur won 6 straight points. Ravinder Pahal was having none of it, though, as he conjured up two super tackles and prevented an all out for his team.
The Pink Panthers reduced the Balwan Singh-coached side to just 1 man in the 30th minute. Binda, this time, could not defy the odds and Jaipur completed an all out to tie the score at 30 each with 9 minutes to go in the match. It was a slow next 7 minutes in terms of points, but the Eagles were down to 3 men with the team in Pink leading by a solitary point.
A heavily bandaged Rajesh Narwal applied the finishing touches with a little help from his defence and the men in blue suffered their second all out of the match with less than a minute to go. Jaipur closed out the match with a 5-point win to hand Dabang Delhi their 5th loss of the tournament.
FT: Jaipur Pink Panthers 39-34 Dabang Delhi