PKL 2017 | Gujarat Fortunegiants beat Dabang Delhi in a thriller

08/12/2017

In what was one of the most entertaining and thrilling games of the season, Gujarat Fortunegiants got the better of Dabang Delhi 29-25 to keep their dominance in the league going. It was the second successive win for the hosts Gujarat whereas it was Delhi’s second consecutive loss.

Both teams play defensive game as first half ended with stalemate

Winning the toss, Gujarat chose the court, which meant Delhi came to raid first. After one round of empty raid, Meraj Sheykh opened the tally for Delhi with a running hand touch on Gujarat skipper Sukesh Hegde. Sachin then earned two points in a single go - one bonus and one raid point - which helped Gujarat level the game at 3-3. But Delhi surged ahead in the game as Ravi Pahal managed to get a point before Meraj Sheykh secured a point to give Delhi lead at 5-3. However, Gujarat didn’t let Delhi stay ahead for a longer period of time to level the game at 6-6. Hegde then picked up the thread and secured two points from his raid and sent Yatharth and Sheykh to the bench to give the hosts a two-point lead at 9-7. In the next do or die raid, Delhi’s R Sriram managed to get a hand touch on the cover defender to reduce the deficit to one point. But in the next do-or-die raid, Sriram failed to recreate the same magic as he was thrown out of the mat by Abozar Mighani before Sachin Tanwar was sent to warm the bench by Ravi Dalal, who put up a strong thigh hold. But in the dying stages of the first half, Fazel Atrachalli stepped off the court thereby gifting a point to Delhi as the first half ended with 10-10.

Last minute nerve helps Gujarat win their second game at home

Hegde drew the first blood in the second half as he was jumped his way out of Nilesh Shinde’s ankle hold before Meraj Sheykh secured four points in one go to reduce Gujarat to one man on the court. In the next raid, Sachin picked a bonus, but more importantly, he imposed the first all-out on Gujarat to give Delhi a five-point lead at 17-12. Although Delhi did well to gain the early lead in the game, Gujarat also clawed their way back in the game as they reduced the point difference to one point at 19-20. Rohit Gulia then picked up a point as Shinde failed in his attempt of ankle hold that reduced Delhi to one man on the court. Gujarat soon inflicted the first all-out on Delhi when Dalal stepped into the lobbies that levelled the score at 23-23. Further, Hegde picked up a point with a running hand touch on the left corner to give a one-point lead to the Gujarat. With less than four minutes of the game remaining in the match, Delhi defenders Shinde and Sunil combined to pin Gulia to the mat that took the game to 26-25. In a game where luck fluctuated in every second, Gujarat managed to surge ahead in the game and eventually managed to win the game by a margin of 29-25.