PKL 2019, UP Yoddha vs Dabang Delhi K.C: UP Yoddha's annihilate Delhi to grab the last playoff spot
UP Yoddha, who were playing their first match in Greater Noida, gave their fans a beautiful gift by qualifying for the season 7 playoffs after defeating the table-toppers Dabang Delhi in the 122nd match of PKL 2019.
Both Monu Goyat and Neeraj Narwal from UP and Delhi picked up 11 raid points each and were the top scorers from both the squads. On the defensive front, Nitesh Kumar and Sombir made a mark by notching up 6 tackle points respectively.
Iranian wall Meraj Sheykh went in for the inaugural raid of the night and returned with a quick touchpoint. The following raid saw Monu Goyat open the account for the home team with a running hand-touch on Mohit.
Dabang Delhi, who had already qualified for not just the playoffs but semi-finals, focused more towards resting the crucial contributors of the team. The Yoddha's, despite starting the season sloppily, caught up and had to defeat Delhi to grab the last spot playoff spot.
Within the first seven minutes, the table-toppers sustained an early all-out, which put the Yoddha's ahead with 10-5 on the scoreboard. The hot favourites, who aimed for nothing less than a win, played well even with Rishank Devadiga not playing.
The conclusion of the first half saw the Yoddha's from UP lead with 22-12 on the scoreboard. Delhi were playing without Naveen Kumar and hence struggled in front of the dominating side.
A second ill-fated all-out greeted Delhi right after the second half kicked-off, which was then followed by the Yoddha's picking up non-stop points and grip on the score.
Neeraj Narwal, who took the responsibility of Naveen in his hands, performed a super raid and hence reduced the already massive lead in UP's favour to ten points.
Making a gradual comeback, Sombir from Delhi inflicted two back-to-back super tackles and completed his high-five, courtesy an excellent display. Simultaneously, Monu Goyat also reached the ten-point mark.
As expected, the UP Yoddha's annihilated Dabang Delhi with 50-33, thanks to some brilliant team-work. They also became the sixth and the last team to qualify for the Season 7 playoffs.