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In the final match on the third day of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi season 2, U Mumba beat Patna Pirates 25-20. The two teams were led by the captain and vice-captain of the Indian national team, respectively – Rakesh Kumar (Patna Pirates) and Anup Kumar (U Mumba).
The captain of the home side, Anup Kumar showed his intent in the first raid itself, returning with 2 points. However, 22-year-old Sandeep Narwal struck back to level the score winning two points for Patna Pirates after 2 minutes.
The match was possibly one of the most even contests as both teams exchanged points and in the 12th minute, they were tied at 7 points each. U Mumba took advantage of Ravi Dalal being over-ambitious and Jeeva Kumar held him by the ankle while Vishal Mane supported him well to give the home side a 2-point lead.
Inspired by his defenders, Rishank Devadiga, in the do-or-die raid, got two Patna Pirates defenders out in the 15th minute. With the final player left, Patna made a substitution bringing on 19-year-old Deepak Narwal and that turned out to be a masterstroke. He got 2 Mumbai players out in his raid to revive two of his teammates.
However, U Mumba weere not to be delayed further as after Shabeer Bapu’s raid resulted in two points for the team while Sandeep Narwal was caught in Patna's resultant raid in the final minute of the half for the first ‘all out’ of the match. The half-time whistle was blown soon after as Patna Pirates went in the break looking for inspiration trailing 10-17 to last season's finalists.
Pirates captain Rakesh Kumar flatters to deceive
Rakesh Kumar, who had 0 points in the first half, started the proceedings in the second half and as was the story in the first half, the Indian national kabaddi team captain returned empty handed. After both the teams exchanged a point each, crowd favourite Shabeer Bapu showed his agility to win 2 points for his team.
Patna Pirates chipped away at the home side’s lead taking three consecutive points to get the scoreline to 20-14. The home team did not risk too much as they aimed to maintain their lead. The calm Anup Kumar went in for the majority of the raids and despite returning empty handed on a few occasions, did not let Patna back in the match as his team’s defenders restricted the Pirates’ raiders on several occasions.
With 4 minutes to go, the Pirates trailed U Mumba by 9 points, 24-15. In the next two minutes, the away side managed to get 2 quick points and looking at his team losing the momentum, U Mumba coach Bhaskaran Edachery called a timeout. The break in the game worked in U Mumba’s favour as they were able to close down the match 25-20 to ensure they remained at the top of the table after 3 days of the tournament.
They will face derby rivals Puneri Paltan in tomorrow’s only match, which will also be the final tie of the Mumbai leg. Despite losing, Patna Pirates will get 1 point as they managed to lose by less than 7 points.
Man of the match: Sandeep Narwal
