New Delhi [India], February 2 : Skipper Maninder Singh's 11 points, ably supported by protege Nitin Kumar's 13 points, made the Bengal Warriors proud with exceptional Super 10s to seal an impressive 38-45 win over the Dabang Delhi K.C. at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium in Delhi on Friday.
A strong start for the home team saw them take the lead in the first half, but they were pegged back by an all-round Bengal Warriors performance despite Ashu Malik's own Super 10.
Maninder Singh, the Bengal Warriors' star raider, gave his team the ideal start. The defence of the Bengal Warriors built on this start but skipper Ashu Malik stole crucial points for the Dabang Delhi K.C. side with consecutive raid points. The Dabang Delhi K.C. built on their early start to get the Bengal Warriors ALL OUT just eight minutes into the game.
With a tight two-point deficit, the Bengal Warriors restarted in style as their talisman Maninder Singh and Vishwas S kept up with the in-form Dabang Delhi K.C. However, Ashu did not let the score settle, constantly pushing their opponents onto the backfoot. The Dabang Delhi K.C. skipper continued his scintillating form as his team got the Bengal Warriors all out for a second time in the first half. The second ALL OUT meant that the Bengal Warriors had a deficit of six points at the start of the second half.
The Bengal Warriors got off to a flier in the second half, working hard to reduce their deficit from the first half. They earned their first all out just three minutes into the second 20 minutes after Ashu Malik completed his Super 10. This took them closer to the home side, after which Akshay Kumar tackled the opponent captain and gave his team the lead.
Maninder Singh led his team from the front, and his resilience bore fruit with another all out giving his team a cushion to lean on. He was ably supported by the young Nitin Kumar, who reached his SUPER 10 before his captain. Two more allo uts followed for the Dabang Delhi K.C., as the Bengal Warriors raced to a big victory.
The two SUPER 10s from Maninder and Nitin were enough to close out the game for the Warriors in what was an impressive turnaround for the Kolkata-based Kabaddi team. Meanwhile, the home team faced their first defeat in four games, as the two teams chase a place in the PKL Season 10 Playoffs, to be held from February 26, in Hyderabad.
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