Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 5 : Despite a remarkable second-half comeback, the Patna Pirates fell short of one-point loss (37-38) to Dabang Delhi KC at the NSCI venue on Friday. Dabang Delhi's Ashu Malik (10 points) and Patna Pirates' raiders Sachin (10 points) and M Sudhakar (9 points) were the standout performers of the evening.
In a blistering first-half performance, Dabang Delhi KC inflicted two ALL OUTs on the Pirates. The first came within the first 10 minutes, as they took a five-point lead, and the second followed merely six minutes later to give them a 10-point advantage.
Dabang Delhi KC's raiders, Malik, Meetu Sharma, and Manjeet logged an incredible 13 points from 20 raids in the first half, leaving the Patna Pirates chasing shadows. Malik in particular was not tackled even once in the first half even registering a SUPER RAID with a minute left in the half. Time and again Sachin had pulled the Pirates out of trouble in the season, but on the day, he was subdued by a confident Dabang Delhi KC defence as they took a 13 points advantage into the break.
The Patna Pirates defence finally clicked into place in the second half, and inflicted an ALL OUT of their own, to cut the lead down to six points. Sachin came to life soon after, registering a SUPER RAID to take out Ashish, Vikrant and Mohit to pull them closer.
The Patna Pirates surge continued through the half, as Sachin and M Sudhakar's brilliant raiding kept them within three points till late in the game. In the end, though, Dabang Delhi KC held on by running down the clock to take the win.
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