Vivo Pro Kabaddi: Rampaging Gujarat held by Warriors

AHMEDABAD: The Bengal Warriors finally halted the winning streak of the Gujarat Fortunegiants when they held the hosts to a 26-26 tie in an Inter Zone Challenge match of the Vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 5 at the Arena, here on Thursday. In a thrilling contest played earlier in the evening, Dabang Delhi beat Tamil Thalaivas 30-29.
With this draw, Gujarat firmly cemented their place on top of zone A with 36 points.It was raider Deepak Narwal who scored three crucial points in the dying moments of the game to save the Warriors from defeat.
"I'm very happy with my boys and the way they played in every game. I'm satisfied with all the results as we remained the only undefeated side in our home leg here," said Gujarat coach Manpreet Singh.
In a nail-biting encounter, it was Dabang Delhi KC who fought back to beat Tamil Thalaivas. The Iranian duo of Meraj Sheykh and Abolfazl 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 it wasn't enough in the end.
Delhi Dabang's skipper and star raider Sheykh, with his super raid in the dying moments of the encounter, scripted Thalaivas fighting defeat. "The match was in our grip and we should have won it. It was indeed a big defensive blunder letting those crucial three raid points to Meraj in the end," said a highly-disappointed Thalaivas coach K Baskaran at the post-match press conference.
Thalaivas captain and ace raider Ajay Thakur too looked unhappy with the outcome of the match. "Our plan to tackle Meraj did not work. We should not have lost such an important game," said Ajay.
Tussle Tonight: 8 pm: U P Yoddha vs U Mumba; 9 pm: Bengaluru Bulls vs Jaipur Pink Panthers (Star Sports Network)