Skipper Nitesh retained his seven from the previous seven while Dabang Delhi rested their mainstays and tested their bench strength in this season’s first home game for U.P. Yoddha

The game started off with Meraj Shaikh getting rid of Sumit but Monu Goyat drew level immediately by sending Mohit out with his touch. Shrikant and Monu got back-to-back raid points before Surender Gill tackled Neeraj Narwal successfully to give us a 4-1 lead.

Delhi tried to bounce back with Sombir earning two points thanks to a super tackle inflicted on Gill. Ashu and Nitesh got us two points in the defence and Monu Goyat’s consecutive raid points saw us take a 10-5 lead. Monu, in the meanwhile, completed 50 points this season. Delhi were put under pressure with an early all-out as Monu and Shrikant kept getting points.

Nitesh, with his tackles, also kept the scoreboard ticking in our favour. The highlight of the game was when Sumit crossed the touchline and stole a raid point from Meraj. We took the half with a commendable 22-10 lead and moved closer to securing a position in the Playoffs.

The second half began with a solid Monu Goyat raid as UP kept dominating. A classic Nitesh Kumar thigh-hold ensured that his side inflicted a second all-out on the men from Delhi, extending their lead to 12 points. In the process, skipper Nitesh Kumar also completed 200 points in his PKL career - all for Yoddha.

Delhi kept fighting in intervals. Neeraj Narwal’s super-raid saw Sumit, Nitesh and Amit head to the bench but the home-side did not break a sweat to get them back on the mat. With under five minutes to go, Sumit helped UP inflict their third all-out of the game when he got rid of Sombir.

In the final few minutes, Surender Singh also came on the mat and got four valuable points as we defeated our neighbours with by a healthy 17-point difference.

We face Puneri Paltan next tomorrow at 8.30 PM at home. Buy tickets on: bit.ly/UPY_Tickets