PKL 2019, U Mumba vs Haryana Steelers: U Mumba destroy Steelers with a brilliant performance
Former champions U Mumba defeated Haryana Steelers in the 130th Pro Kabaddi 2019 match, which was played at Greater Noida's Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex on Thursday.
Vinay from Haryana became the top scorer of the match after collecting 11 raid points. Ajinkya Kapre from U Mumba fell short of his first Super 10 by a single point. On the defensive front, Fazel Atrachali and Sandeep Narwal from U Mumba displayed smashing performances and picked up 8 and 5 tackle points respectively.
Dong Geon Lee, hailing from South Korea, inaugurated the night for U Mumba and returned with a quick bonus point.
The next minute saw Vinay getting tackled by Sandeep Narwal, which was then followed by a power-packed tackle by Kuldeep Singh, thus opening the account for Haryana.
Both teams had already qualified for the playoffs and looked out for a win to improve their ranking on the points table. Five minutes into the solitary match of the night, Haryana led 5-3 on the scoreboard.
Iranian wall Fazel Atrachali became the first foreign player in PKL to reach the 300-point mark in tackle points, courtesy an excellent Super Tackle on young prodigy, Vikash Kandola.
The same encounter saw the splendid Narwal become the fourth player to complete 300 tackle points. Haryana kept pitching in points mostly through offense, unlike U Mumba, who had more successful tackles than raids. Soon enough, Atrachali, who was unstoppable, completed his High 5 beautifully in his 100th match of the league.
The conclusion of the first half had the two teams tied on 15-15. A mindblowing two-pointer by Naveen kickstarted the second half for Haryana on an impressive note, which was then followed by Lee's commendable raid.
A second all-out greeted U Mumba in the 24th minute, which put Haryana ahead by four points. On a night full of records, Narwal inflicted an all-out on Haryana in the 28th minute, which also helped him reach his High 5 brilliantly.
Vinay became the first raider of the night to reach the ten-point mark in raid points and was the biggest contributor for his team. The score kept on fluctuating throughout, making a prediction almost impossible.
Despite the battle being a close-called one, U Mumba looked more compact as a team than Haryana, who struggled to find rhythm. Kandola also fell short of expectations and spent most of his time off the mat.
Eventually, U Mumba clinched the 39-33 win after demolishing Haryana Steelers. A wonderful teamwork helped the former winners emerge victorious
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