On defence, the Pirates made basic mistakes such as running out of bounds and diving into hopeless tackles.
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Dabang Delhi KC won the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 8 title with a 37-36 victory over Patna Pirates, thanks to stellar displays Vijay and Naveen Kumar. The match began with Patna on the offensive, with Sachin and Guman Singh raiding brilliantly and the well-oiled defence doing what they do best. A 12-8 lead, however, dwindled toward the end of the half as Naveen and Vijay increased the pressure, compensating for an underperforming Delhi defence. At halftime, the lead had shrunk to 17-15. Despite the lead, there were warning signs. Some of the advanced tackles by covers Neeraj Kumar and Sajin Chandrashekhar were touch-and-go, while superstar left corner Mohammadreza Chiyaneh missed a few tackles and was repeatedly tapped out.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Sachin appeared to calm Patna nerves by pulling off a superb raid and a stunning tackle on Naveen in quick succession. However, he was tackled on the very next raid, and with the score 20-19 in Patna’s favour, it all unravelled, with an all-out looming. On defence, the Pirates made basic mistakes such as running out of bounds, diving into hopeless tackles, and making substitutions far too early.
Indeed, for the final five minutes, when Patna trailed 32-29 and had already used up their substitutions – with lead raiders Sachin and Guman sitting on the bench. It appeared that a tactical error had sealed the match’s fate.
Chiyaneh fought back with three points in a row, three raid points, but a Vijay super raid and Naveen’s calmness at the end meant Delhi won 37-36.
