Patna Pirates crushed U Mumba 34-24 and moved to the top of the leader board in match 37 of Pro Kabaddi league season 4. The win means the Pirates have now beaten Mumbai four times in the last five occasions.
The game was a star-studded affair as U Mumba took on current champions, Patna Pirates. A crunch match that would have major implications on the points table. Only four points separated both the sides.
Suresu Kumar opened proceedings for U Mumba with a deft hand touch from a do or die raid. Star man, Pardeep Narwal was taken out in his very first attempt as U Mumba took a 2-0 lead. The battle between Fazel Atrachali and Anup Kumar was intriguing. The Iranian got the better of him in the first half.
Rajesh Mondal then brought the game to life, scoring two points from do or die raid. Patna were now leading 5-3. Pardeep Narwal was relatively silent in the opening ten minutes. The men in orange made him work hard during his raids.
But, Rajesh Mondal was in his zone as scored from another do or die raid to reduce U Mumba to three men. At the other end, Anup Kumar couldn’t match Mondal as his side were now down to two.
Pardeep made the most of it to take out Rakesh Kumar. The inevitable transpired as Patna inflicted the first all out on the match. The Pirates were now leading by six after sixteen minutes. Narwal then came to life, taking out both Jeeva and Surjeet in one raid to further extend the lead.
Mondal then produced the raid of the match. He executed the perfect super raid sliding past the Mumbai defence. The hectic pace of the game got the better of U Mumba.
HT- Patna Pirates 19 - U Mumba 8
Starting the second half with just one man, Patna inflicted another all out on U Mumba to take a massive 22-8 lead. The men in orange looked devoid of ideas.
Mondal was ridiculously efficient with his do or die raids. He took out Anup Kumar to score his seventh point of the game. Things were getting ugly for the men in orange. Coach, Bhaskaran looked in disbelief.
Mumbai were now playing on the defensive, coercing the Patna raiders to make the mistakes. But the Pirates were miserly in defence not allowing the opposition an inch. With eleven minutes remaining, Patna were leading by 11.
Every time Mumbai sensed a comeback, they couldn’t make the most of it. Even captain, Anup Kumar found it arduous to break down Dharmaraj and company. This was truly an all-around performance from the Pirates. They were helped by the opposition’s overzealous tackles.
Seven minutes left and U Mumba were staring at another all out with three men on the mat. Patna captain, Dharmaraj was leading from the front. His advance tackles were timed to perfection. The forty-two-year-old continues to show why age is nothing but a number.
The final minutes saw no surprise comeback from U Mumba. This massive win put to bed any charges of complacency that was levied on the current champions.
FT- Patna Pirates 34 - U Mumba 24
