Patna Pirates 47-34 Dabang Delhi; Surjeet Singh shines in the Eagles' loss
Patna Pirates continued their unbeaten run with a 47-34 win on Dabang Delhi. Surjeet Singh was the lone warrior for the Eagles as he won 10 points while Pardeep Narwal, with 11 points, and Deepak Narwal with 15 shone for the Pirates.
Pardeep Narwal got the game underway with a successful raid, but Dabang Delhi retaliated with 5 unanswered points. Selvamani K, Anil Nimbolkar and Surjeet Singh won points in their raids while a stellar defence at the back reduced the league leaders to just 2 men. Deepak Narwal, however, had other ideas as he conjured 4 points in 2 raids to restore parity in the 7th minute.
The Pirates took the lead for the first time in the 11th minute when Surjeet was tackled in his raid and a minute later had Dabang Delhi on the verge of an all out. Last man standing Gnanasekaran M. won 2 points for the Eagles, but the men in blue were unable to prevent an all out in the 15th minute. This spurred the Pirates on and they went from strength to strength to end the half leading 20-14.
HT: Patna Pirates 20-14 Dabang Delhi
The Pirates went on a 4-point run at the start of the second Patna half and in the 22nd minute, Pardeep Narwal completed the all out to extend his team’s lead to 13 points (28-15). Deepak maintained his form by winning 2 more points, but substitute Rohit Kumar Chaudhary made a second successful raid in 3 attempts for Delhi.
The 28th minute saw a third all out inflicted on the Eagles when Selvamani K was unsuccesful in his raid as the Pirates increased their lead to 20 points (38-18). Rohit scored 2 more points in his raid and Surjeet scored 4 points in as many raids to get Patna on the verge of an all out. The Lona was inflicted in the 37th minute when Deepak was caught in the Delhi half. Surjeet won 3 more points for his team before the buzzer sounded to signal full time.
FT: Patna Pirates 47-34 Dabang Delhi
The Eagles will now travel to Patna in search of their maiden win when they face Bengaluru Bulls on 18th February.