Mumbai, Jan 8 Ashu Malik went on the rampage as he scored 13 points, helping Dabang Delhi KC beat the home team U Mumba 40-34 in a tense encounter at the DOME by NSCI in Mumbai to rise to second position on the table.
U Mumba's defence was underwhelming and underperforming as Dabang Delhi KC rode on a blistering first-half performance by Ashu Malik, who grabbed eight raid points in the first period and was tackled only once by the Mumba defence. They inflicted the first All-Out of the game to take a 13-8 lead.
But as they succeeded on the raid, so did U Mumba, with both defences rendered ineffective in the half and restricted to a mere seven points.
While Delhi Dabang KC’s raiding was almost a one-man effort, U Mumba spread their 15 raid points among Amirmohammad Zafardanesh, Guman Singh and Jai Bhagwan.
Despite some solid raiding under pressure by Delhi Dabang KC, it didn't take U Mumba too long in the second half to inflict an All-Out of their own and claw back their hold on the game. There was a one-point difference between the two teams as they went into the final quarter of the game.
Ashu Malik capitalised on a series of DO OR DIE raids to reduce the U Mumba numbers and then almost single-handedly inflicted a second ALL OUT to take a 36-31 lead with three minutes to play.
A series of razor-thin decisions went in favour of a brilliant Delhi Dabang KC’s defence in the dying moments of the game as they closed out a hugely important victory.
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