Dabang Delhi overcame a stiff late resistance from Puneri Paltan to open their account with a narrow 38-37 win in the Pro Kabaddi League at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here today.
Kashiling Adake and Rohit Kumar Chaudary's powerful raids ensured Delhi a handsome 25-11 lead at halftime but team Pune fought back with captain Wazir Singh's glorious 13 raid points.
Wazir, who was adjudged Best Raider, made it 33-33 before Pune gained a slender 37-35 lead with two minutes to go.
Just when it mattered the most, Adake delivered yet again with another fine raid to make it 37-37 before Delhi's solid defence stamped their authority by pinning down Pune's best raider and captain Singh en route to a thrilling win.
Bottom placed Delhi jumped to fifth place with five points, while Pune remained on second with two points.
In a battle between the last two teams in the table, Delhi were trailing 1-4 but they turned it around in style with a fifth minute super raid by Chaudary who pinned down four Pune defenders to hand a 5-4 lead.
Pune's attack banked heavily on their skipper Wazir Singh but that was not enough to make a comeback as their poor defence meant that the Delhi team raced to a six-point lead in no time.
Delhi went for the jugular once again and this time Adake knocked out three Pune defenders for a second super raid en route to the commanding lead midway into the contest.
