U Mumba defeated Puneri Paltan 36-35 in a hard-fought match in the Pro Kabaddi League at the Kanteerva Indoor Stadium in Bangalore on Wednesday.
This was a match of purely academic interest. U Mumba had already qualified for the semifinals whereas it was goodbye for Puneri Paltan who are in last place.
Despite the match having no bearing on the league in any way, both teams went hard at each other. Going into the game U Mumba, who had lost a bit of form with no wins in their last four games, wanted to get back to winning ways.
Puneri Paltan, on the other hand, with a mere two wins to their name after 13 games, wanted to sign off on a winning note.
It was Puneri Paltan who showed aggressive intent early on. This was beneficial for them as they took a quick lead.
Skipper Wazir Singh opened the scoring in the second minute of the match itself. He scored via a raid which had his opposite number Anup Kumar all at sea.
Anup Kumar, however, had his revenge when he hoodwinked Wazir Singh and put his team on the scoreboard soon after. The boys from Pune, however, appeared determined to make an impression in this match. They soon struck back in the form of Nitin More. Puneri Paltan, at this point, led as the score was 8-6. The boys from Pune were looking good.
U Mumba, however, were not going to sit back and let Puneri Paltan seize a bigger lead. Anup Kumar once again came to the party, he notched up three points with a raid. Then things became worse for the boys from Pune. They conceded LONA points to hand a six-point lead to U Mumba.
The Pune side now needed to hit back fast, which is what they did. Wazir Singh scored by way of a raid. Soon it was U Mumba's turn to concede LONA points as their lead lessened to 23-21.
U Mumba began the second half attacking as Rishank Devadiga scored for them. Puneri Paltan, however, refused to throw in the towel as they attacked and scored. Soon the teams were tied at 25-all in the 26th minute of the game.
It was hard to tell who would go on and win the game from here on. Both teams kept on scoring, but U Mumba moved ahead slightly to 35-32 with only a minute remaining. Puneri Paltan tried their best to level the scores, but they failed, and, in the end, U Mumba claimed the victory.
Points Table--
1] Jaipur Pink Panthers -- 54 points
2] U Mumba -- 51 points
3] Bengaluru Bulls -- 47 points
4] Patna Pirates -- 45 points
5] Telugu Titans -- 42 points
6] Dabang Delhi -- 32 points
7] Bengal Warriors -- 24 points
8] Puneri Paltan -- 17 points
