Kolkata: An evenly but breathtaking encounter witnessed Dabang Delhi down Puneri Paltans 38-37 in a Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) match at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here on Friday.

With the win, Delhi registered their first win of the season and go fifth while Pune slumped to their third consecutive loss in the league and are last on the leaderboard.

It was the Paltan who pocketed the first two points in the opening few minutes of the exchange. At one point they led 4-1.

But the Delhi franchise came back strong as their raider Rohit Kumar Choudhury, who was later adjudged the player-of-the-match, managed to get to the centre line after having touched four Pune defenders in a super raid.

After having turned the tables in their favour, the Dabangs managed an allout too. Delhi’s star raider Kashiling Adake then increased his side’s lead further with another super raid which involved three Pune players.

Delhi — with momentum — were unstoppable as they kept on piling whatever points they could latch onto including successful raids and a brilliant teamwork in defence. They affected another allout to rest at 25-11 at halftime.

After the breather it was Paltan skipper Wazir Singh who pulled back a few points along with his teammate Pravin Niwale affecting an opposite allout this time. At the 29th minute mark, the score read 28-24 still slightly favouring Delhi.

It was chock-a-block from there on as Pune answered everything that was thrown at them. With two successful raids and another allout, the Paltans edged past their rivals in the 34th minute with a score of 32-31.

The last few minutes saw fierce contest kabaddi as both teams refused to budge an inch, but it was Delhi who held their nerve till the end to clinch the game 38-37.