Dabang Delhi ended their Pro Kabaddi 2016 Season 4 campaign with a 34-38 loss against U Mumba, who had been virtually knocked out much before the match had started due to Puneri Paltan beating Bengaluru Bulls. U Mumba needed to win the game by a margin of more than 40 points, which was nearly impossible, while Dabang Delhi had nothing to lose, having already being knocked out yesterday, However, U Mumba showed why they are so highly rated and came back after being nine points down at half time to win the contest.
Puneri Paltan’s win over Bengaluru Bulls had made this match into a dead rubber contest and U Mumba looked quite off from the start. Since Dabang Delhi had nothing to lose, they were on the front foot in the first ten minutes of the game. Spurred on by the home crowd, Delhi reduced U Mumba to one man in the 10th minute and Anup Kumar was the only one remaining.
The inevitable happened and U Mumba were condemned to their first all out of the match in the 11th minute and the score read 12-6 in favour of the home side. U Mumba were looking quite down trodden and it showed on their faces. Rakesh Kumar, to bring about a change to proceedings, produced an excellent raid in the 13th minute to pull a point back for U Mumba.
Dabang Delhi, despite not having Meraj Sheykh within their ranks, were playing quite well on the night and looked like a carefree unit. They also gave a chance to Deepak Narwal, who had been missing for a large part of the season. Anup Kumar was a model of concentration but he too was tackled regularly in the game The drop was evident on U Mumba players’ shoulders and they were down by five points with five minutes remaining in the first half.
The home side raced into into a six point lead with just under two minutes remaining and U Mumba were down to just four men. Prashant then produced the moment of the first half with a stunning Super Raid and it was only Rakesh Kumar left on the mat for U Mumba. He did not stay their for long and U Mumba were all out with just 22 seconds remaining. The last raid of the first half was an empty one from Anup Kumar.
Half Time: Dabang Delhi 24-13 U Mumba
U Mumba started the second half brightly with Anup Kumar taking a bonus point and then the defence combining to tackle down Prashant on a do or die raid. Some drama followed as Anup Kumar was shown a yellow card for protesting. However, Rishank Devadiga showed glimpses of previous seasons to get a couple of touch points and reduce Delhi down to just three men. The lead was still eight points but U Mumba had a chance of inflicting an All Out.
The away side sent Rishank to raid in the 25th minute and produced an exceptional raid to dismiss both players and reduce the lead down to just three points with the score standing at 27-24. Delhi, sensing the pressure, brought on Meraj Sheykh to seize the initiative back. However, U Mumba put the foot on the gas pedal to come within a point of Dabang Delhi.
If the first half belong to Dabang Delhi, the second belonged to U Mumba, who showed why they are probably the best team in the history of the competition. Mumbai reduced Delhi to one man yet again with just seven minutes remaining and Rishank Devadiga completed the All Out to take his team into a four point lead. The match took a complete u-turn and U Mumba were leading 34-30 with six minutes left.
The last period of the game saw a neck-and-neck battle as Delhi tried to overturn U Mumba’s momentum. Delhi needed to get things underway quickly as they were lagging behind by four points but U Mumba did not let them in and took off Meraj Sheykh to stretch their lead to five points. The away side was relentless in the game’s last few moments and did not let Delhi breathe. Meraj was revived but it made little difference as U Mumba ran down the clock to win the match.
Full Time: Dabang Delhi 34–38 U Mumba
