U Mumba produced a clinical performance to bounce back in style after a slow start to Pro Kabaddi 2016 and continued their dominance over Dabang Delhi. Both the teams were under pressure coming into the match and it was a very crucial game for both the teams who were languishing in the lower half of the league table before the game.
Rishank Devadiga continued from where he left against Patna Pirates in the last match and drew first blood for U Mumba whereas Deepak Narwal’s bonus helped Delhi open their account in the 4th minute. The U Mumba defence that had come in for some criticism looked desperate to make amends and lunged at opponent raiders at every possible chance.
But Dabang Delhi was giving the second season winners a run for their money in the first half as in the 12th minute young Selvamani put in an impressive raid that fetched the team two points. This was to prove a crucial turning point in the first half as in the very next minute, Rishank Devadiga found himself crowded by Delhi defenders which put Dabang Delhi in the lead for the first time in the game.
After a slow start, the men in blue picked up the pace and inflicted an all out on U Mumba in the 16th minute to lead by 4 points. But U Mumba’s defence helped the team pull back things and reduce the deficit. Jeeva Kumar has been impressive in this season and showed his brilliance with a double thigh hold to stop Kashiling Adake’s raid that ensured that U Mumba went into the half time just two points behind the Eagles.
Kashiling Adake didn’t have the best of the first half and, as if to add insult to injury, Adake wasted a crucial review too for a bonus when he himself looked unsure about it, demonstrating that captaincy is still not his strongest suit. His opposite number Anup Kumar wasn’t at his deadly best in the first half and was kept quiet by the Eagles’ defence.
Half Time: U Mumba 12 – 14 Dabang Delhi
Jeeva Kumar’s block fetched U Mumba a point in the 22nd minute to restart the battle between the two sides. But Devadiga’s failed raid meant that Delhi again had the two point lead that they had gone to the half time with. This was the beginning of the cat and mouse game between the two teams.
In the 26th minute, Devadiga’s raid once again brought the scores on level on 15-15 but the shoe was on the other foot as Delhi were staring at an all out with just 3 men left. But Meyraj Sheykh, as he had done so well in the match against Bengal Warriors, clinched a do or die raid and more importantly prevented the all out. He also succeeded in reviving Kashiling Adake apart from giving the team a one point lead.
But what came next was unthinkable. Just in a matter of few seconds, U Mumba turned the tables on the Eagles. First, Rishank Devadiga showed his class to bring 3 points in a do or die raid. This was followed by another 3 pointer that finally inflicted an all out on the men from Delhi and U Mumba were up and running again as they jumped from 15 to 21 in a jiffy.
With five minutes left on the clock and the scorecard reading 24-20, it was time for Delhi to change gears and mount a challenge. But Kashiling Adake’s attempted raid only ended in him being thrown off the court by a powerful Surjeet.
The crowd was expecting the Eagles to do what the Panthers had pulled off yesterday in the last four minutes, and for once, the game looked to be following a similar script, courtesy some amazing tackles by Delhi’s newbie Sanket Chauhan as U Mumba’s lead was cut down to just two going into the last two minutes.
But U Mumba were too smart to not make the same mistakes as the Bulls had done on Thursday and calmly completed their seventh win over the Eagles. Anup Kumar, the talismanic captain showed why he is captain cool when he completed the last raid by crossing the centre line with his head, leaving the Delhi defence flummoxed and launching U Mumba to second position in the league table
Full-Time: U Mumba 27 – 25 Dabang Delhi
