Telugu Titans keep their cool, ensure a comfortable win against Dabang Delhi

A WELL-BALANCED, measured display from Telugu Titans ensured that they maintained an upper hand over Dabang Delhi for most of the match and ensured a 23-28 win for themselves.

The Titans started early with Rahul Chaudhari drawing blood and Sandeep Narwal catching hold of Vikash Khandola's leg. Then Delhi defenders caught Rahul followed by Nilesh Salunke. But the upward momentum was with the Titans, who, led by a resurrected Rahul Chaudhari, went on a scoring spree.

In a crucial moment of the match two defenders launched themselves on Rahul, but the latter jumped over them to safety. But unfortunately Delhi's D. Gopu sustained a serious injury on his hand and could not continue. Then Meraj Sheykh came raiding only to be caught by Sandeep Narwal who dashed in and held him down. Kashiling ran back to back successful raids for Delhi but Nilesh Salunke was doing the same for Telugu Titans now so the deficit stayed the same.

Then towards the end of the half, Meraj Sheykh, who had his eyes on Rahul Chaudhari for a while, finally got him with a daring charge. But Sandeep Narwal, hell-bent on getting Rahul back on the mat, ran a short raid to force one last raid from Meraj, and personally tackled him to get an extra point and ensure that Rahul was back in action. A dominant half ended with Telugu Titans cruising at a 7-14 lead over Dabang Delhi.

Delhi caught Rahul in their net again early on in the second half followed by Nilesh but the Titans defenders got him back quick with a tackle on Vikash Khandola. And what followed was a series of aggressive exchange of raids, with Rahul Chaudhari and Delhi's Kashiling Adake taking the lead. Nilesh and Anil Kumar did their bit too, but try as they might it was just not enough for Delhi. They suffered an all-out about 30 minutes in, and the Titans played safe from that point, protecting their lead. Kashiling's spectacular last minute raids were not enough and the match ended with Dabang Delhi trailing 23-28.

Although Delhi are looking much better now than the start of the season, this loss takes away any potential momentum they might have gained from their shock victory over Patna Pirates last night. The Titans were tight, and had a superior control of the flow of the game, and that proved to be the difference. Delhi are on the verge of getting thrown out of the race to top four, so it's time for them to figure out why they almost always look less of a team than their opponents. Otherwise this season will come to an early end for them.