PKL Season 11: U-Mumba Thrash Reigning Champions On Home Turf; Seal Bragging Rights In Maharashtra Derby

PKL Season 11: U-Mumba stunned the home crowd with a stunning win over reigning champions, and have, in the process, thrown them out of Top 5 in points table. Read below.

U Mumba have now moved above Puneri Paltan in the points table, and sit at 3rd, 10 points behind league-leaders Haryana Steelers

Source : Pro Kabaddi

PKL Season 11: Former champion U Mumba scored a comprehensive 43-29 win against the Puneri Paltan in a Maharashtra Derby in Match 90 of Season 11 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) here on Tuesday. Puneri Paltan’s fans turned up in huge numbers in the Badminton Hall at the Balewadi Sports Complex but had to return disappointed.

Ajit Chauhan scored 12 points for U Mumba, along with Manjeet, who added five more to the cause. Defenders Sunil Kumar and Sombir registered High-5s for the U Mumba as well. For the Puneri Paltan, Pankaj Mohite had the best outing with 9 points to his name.

The win now gives U Mumba bragging rights in the Maharashtra Derby as they have 11 wins from 24 games against Puneri Paltan. The Season 10 champions, Puneri Paltan, have registered 10 victories in the fixture, while three games have been tied.

Sombir and Manjeet picked up the first points for the U Mumba, but along expected lines, the Puneri Paltan roared back in the early exchanges. U Mumba though kept up their intensity and very soon, they were all scoring important points in the first quarter of the contest.

Sushil Kumar, Manjeet and Ajit Chauhan were leading the charge for U Mumba, who were looking to pull away with an early lead. Neither side was allowing the opposition an inch on the mat. For the Puneri Paltan, Akash Shinde and Abinesh Nadarajan were having the most impact in the first half, despite being on the wrong end of the scoreline.

Manjeet and Ajit Chauhan though were causing the Puneri Paltan plenty of problems as U Mumba were looking to go through the gears. In the final minutes of the first half, Pankaj Mohite ran through the U Mumba defence with a three-point raid, giving the Puneri Paltan an important but slender lead.

Pankaj Mohite’s onslaught continued, and with a bit of help from the defenders, the Puneri Paltan landed an emphatic All Out on U Mumba and snatched the lead just before the break. At half-time, the Puneri Paltan led by 19-16, and the Pune crowd were understandably delighted.

Chauhan wiped out the lead with the first play of the second half, as he landed an impressive Super Raid on the Puneri Paltan. And then he came back for more, to restore U Mumba’s lead. Before the first six minutes of the second half were over, Chauhan completed his Super 10 and also inflicted an All Out on the Puneri Paltan. The U Mumba were dominant, but the defending champions weren’t throwing in the towel.

With the game approaching the half-hour mark, the U Mumba side led by 8 points, and had managed to thwart the likes of Pankaj Mohite and V Ajith. As the contest went into the final phase, the Puneri Paltan started to mount one last fight back. Pankaj Mohite had a couple of successful moments, but Sunil Kumar, and Sombir, both of whom had completed their High-5s were having none of that.

Manjeet then picked up an All Out at the expense of Puneri Paltan, which all but sealed the fate of the game. Eventually, U Mumba walked off the mat with a resounding win in the derby.

 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)