U Mumba pip Pirates in thriller
A late rally from U Mumba, which saw all players pulling their weight helped them edge past Patna Pirates 40- 39 in a thriller in the inter- zone match of the 6th Vivo PKL in Patna on Saturday.
Solid defending from the trio of Fazel, Surinder & Dharmaraj and smart raids by Rohit Baliyan ensured U- Mumba stay on top of the game despite their star raider Siddharth being off the court for more than 10 minutes. U- Mumba maintained the lead for the most part of the first half but an all- out inflicted by Patna Pirates in the dying moments helped them level scores at 14- 14.
The second half started with Siddharth defaulting giving 2 points to Patna Pirates by stepping out of bounds during his raid attempt. Soon after Pradeep scored 2 points for his team giving Patna a 3 point lead and enforcing an all- out taking their tally to 25- 18. The game was in the balance for a while with both teams picking up quick points. Just when U Mumba was looking to close the gap, a Toofani raid by Vikas ensured Patna scored 3 points and kept their lead intact. Fazel Atrachali got a crucial tackle point by taking down Pradeep Narwal with just under 3 minutes to go taking the scoreline to 36- 37.
Rohit Baliyan delivered in the second half again by snatching 2 points to take the tally to 38- 38. In the final seconds of the game Siddharth picked up 1 point and Fazel conceded a point helping U Mumba secure a 40- 39 victory over Patna Pirates.
WARRIORS BEAT PANTHERS
Bengal Warriors registered another win to continue their awesome run of games with a win streak of 3 games now. Jaipur on the other hand were handed their third straight loss in the season.
Mahesh Goud and Maninder Singh ran sack points on Jaipur’s defence while Ran Singh and the captain Surjeet Singh had a great match. Deepak Hooda tried his best to save the game for Jaipur but in vain as others failed to perform.
Bengal Warriors moved to the top spot in Zone B with this win while they continued to stay in the bottom of Zone B.
Deepak Niwas Hooda got a running hand touch on Mahesh Goud in the 2nd minute to initiate the points for the match as both teams started with empty raids.
Goud made a great comeback to this with a Super Raid in the 7th minute. He made a great review as he was initially given Out by the referees only to be overturned into 3 touch points and a bonus point which led to the score reading 7- 3.
A strong dash on Anup Kumar by Surjeet SIngh made the Jaipur fans nervous as he looked like having an issue with his shoulder in the 9th minute.