Pro Kabaddi League 2017: Dabang Delhi beat Tamil Thalaivas by one point in thrilling encounter

Ahmedabad: Dabang Delhi fought back to beat Tamil Thalaivas 30-29 in the Pro Kabaddi League on Thursday. The Iranian duo of Meraj Sheykh and Abolfazl Maghsoudlou Mahalli combined to score 20 points to give Dabang Delhi their second win of the season. The two teams were in desperate need of a win to boost their campaign in the league. Ajay Thakur scored 14 points for Tamil Thalaivas but they were not enough in the end. [caption id=“attachment_3943327” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image courtesy: Twitter @DabangDelhiKC[/caption] Both teams opened their account with a successful raid in the first two minutes of the match. Dabang Delhi led 5-2 after five minutes as their raiders scored easy points against the Thalaivas defence. Thalaivas made it 6-5 in the ninth minute as their defence got their act together and forced a super-tackle. It was an evenly contested affair as both teams couldn’t manage to extend their lead. Meraj Sheykh scored with a raid point in the 14th minute as Dabang Delhi led 9-7. Thalaivas scored two points to level the game at 9-9 in the 16th minute. Delhi had a glorious opportunity to force an all out as they reduced Thalaivas to just two men in the 20th minute. But Thalaivas forced another super-tackle to end the half all square at 12-12. Thalaivas scored two points with another super tackle in the 22nd minute to lead 14-12. Ajay Thakur scored his fifth raid point to give Thalaivas 15-12 lead after 24 minutes. Amit Hooda scored a tackle point in the 27th minute to give Thalaivas a 16-13 lead. Delhi forced a super-tackle in the 28th minute to trail 16-17. Thalaivas regained their lead as Ajay Thakur scored his seventh raid point to give his team 19-16 lead after 30 minutes. Another two-point raid by Thakur in the 35th minute gave Thalaivas a 27-23 lead. Meraj Sheykh scored two points in the 37th minute to reduce the lead to 25-27. Abolfazl averted an all out as he scored with a two-point raid twice in two minutes as Dabang Delhi levelled the match at 21-21 in the 33rd minute. Thalaivas inflicted an all out in the 34th minute to lead 25-22. Ajay Thakur attained a super 10 as he had a terrific game for Thalaivas. It was anyone’s match as Delhi fought back and reduced the deficit to just one point in the last minute. Meraj Sheykh came up with a brilliant super raid with less than 40 seconds left to give Dabang Delhi 30-28 lead. Ajay Thakur scored a raid point but it wasn’t enough in the end.