Hyderabad: The second and final leg of the United Basketball Alliance (UBA) Pro Basketball League 2016, tipped off at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium earlier today. The first game of the second leg of the UBA Pro Basketball League Season 2 was between north division neighbours Delhi Capitals and Haryana Gold. Each of these teams has had very different runs in the tournament so far. While Delhi is on top of the table in the north division, Haryana are the only winless team in the tournament, having lost all of their games in the Pune leg.
Gold started with two point guards in their backcourt, Sanjeev Kumar and Ashiv Jain. Haryana seemed a bit rusty to begin the game with a sluggish start in the first quarter. Delhi capitalized on the Haryana turnovers to gain an early lead with buckets in transition. The Capitals also relied on good ball movement in their half court sets to produce open shots for their team. Guard Vinay Kaushik, who had a stellar Pune leg, continued his good form in the first half of today’s game getting to the basket and forcing Delhi to defend him on the perimeter as well. Delhi ended up with a 20-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Haryana fought back, led by their backup point guard Himanshu Sharma. His quickness and sticky ball handling helped him penetrate and finish at the rim against the Capitals. On the defensive end, centre Jaskaran (5 blocks) was a huge defensive presence, blocking or altering shots from Delhi’s slashers. Haryana closed out the gap and ended the first half down by just one point 33 to 34. The second half was an even scoring affair, with both teams trading buckets. Forward Deepak Rathee had a big third quarter for Haryana Gold, using his size and dexterity in the paint to put up the points. For Delhi, Yudhvir Dahiya provided the offensive spark off the bench with 8 points and 11 rebounds.
The game continued to be neck-and-neck down the stretch. Despite a distinct rebounding advantage for Delhi (76 to 32), the Capitals could not capitalize on most of their second chance opportunities. Young guard Sunil Rathee came off the bench for Delhi in the fourth quarter to provide some crucial buckets. He had 8 points in the fourth to keep his team in the contest.
With under a minute of play left in the game, Gold centre Jaskaran made a clutch mid-range jumper off a broken play to put his team up by one point. On the other end, Delhi’s star guard Vinay Kaushik made his way to the freethrow line only to split his freethrows and tie the game. Haryana could not make much out of their next possession and the game came down to the final Dlehi possession with 3 seconds on the clock. Capitals chose to go to Vinay Kaushik, who drove in with strength and nailed a wild banker off the glass at the buzzer to put his team up by 2 and break the hearts of Haryana fans.
Popular Hindi film actors Arjun Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan were special guests on the occasion and showed their support, while also promoting their new film Ki and Ka that releases on 1st April.
“It’s amazing that other sports are getting their due and I am very happy that we can be part of such a well organised event. I have played basketball in school and love the sport,” said Mr Arjun Kapoor.
“It is great to be here in Hyderabad, one of my most favourite cities. It is the first time I am witnessing a basketball match and the feeling is amazing. Thank you UBA and Ten Sports for allowing us to talk about our very special film. It is a film perfect for this environment, as it is about men and women following their dreams, just like how you boys are following your dream of playing basketball,” said Ms Kareena Kapoor.
Delhi survived the Haryana scare today to maintain their good record, while Haryana Gold will continue to search for their first win.
Delhi Capitals (Vinay Kaushik 12pts 13rbs, Ajay Singh 10pts, Ramesh 9pts) bt Haryana Gold (Deepak Rathee 19pts, Himanshu Sharma 15pts, Jaskaran Singh 12pts) 68-66 (20-13, 14-20, 17-17, 17-16)
