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In a thriller of a contest, Puneri Paltan pipped their state rivals U Mumba to clinch the match 33-32 in the dying moments of the encounter.
Into the 8th minute of the second half, the scoreline read 26-18 in favour of the home side, Puneri Paltan, who extended their first-half lead to sit in a comfortable winning position. But, defensive lapses by the Paltan and a terrific raiding performance by the rookie Siddharth Desai, brought U Mumba on level terms with just 1 minute remaining in the game.
But, an accidental step into the lobby by Siddharth Desai without a touch on the opposition's defence gave Puneri Paltan a two-point lead courtesy a Super Tackle and gave them the lead that they needed going into the final raid of the match.
GB More was tackled in the final raid of the match, as U Mumba managed to wrestle back a point but with the umpires declaring the end of the match, their hopes of a final raid were crushed. And the match ended 33-32 and gave Puneri Paltan the winning momentum that they had desperately strived for.
Siddharth Desai was the top performer for U Mumba, yet again, as he scored 15 raid points of his 19 attempted raids and was the primary reason behind U Mumba salvaging a point from the encounter.
The defensive points for the U Mumba were contributed by their captain, Fazel Atrachali (3 points), Rajguru Subramanian (2 points), and Dharmaraj Cheralathan (2 points).
The reason behind Puneri Paltan's win was a Super-10 by their raiding spearhead, Nitin Tomar with 13 points, and a High-5 by their captain Girish Ernak with 5 tackle points, which helped them take the decisive lead to win the derby.
Puneri Paltan will be in action today evening against the Bengaluru Bulls in the Inter-Zone Challenge Week, while U Mumba will take on the Telugu Titans on Tuesday, the 23rd.
