Pro Kabaddi League Season 6, Match 2: Puneri Paltan vs U Mumba | Result and Post Match Analysis
The Maharashtrian derby ended on a tie with the scoreline reading 32-32, but it was far from a boring contest with its share of ups and downs.
At one point, U Mumba, who looked set to win the contest with the narrowest of margins were stopped in their tracks by a smart comeback led by the Puneri Paltan captain, Girish Ernak, who tackled U Mumba's top raider Siddharth Desai to tie the match in the dying moments of the game.
Earlier in the game, Nitin Tomar of Puneri Paltan and Siddharth Desai of U Mumba went toe-to-toe as they made sure to take a point in each and every raid they made. The PKL newcomer, Siddharth managed to impress one and all with his kicks and swift touches as he managed to gather 14 points in his debut match. While the experienced, Nitin Tomar displayed his class as he finished the top raider in the match with an impressive 15 points.
On the defensive front, Puneri Paltan was the better team as they accumulated 11 tackle points to U Mumba's 9 points. While Girish Ernak (4 points) was the prime defender for the Paltans, U Mumba's defense was spearheaded by Fazel Atrachali (captain) who managed a High-5 and was ably supported by the experienced Dharamaraj Cheralathan who ended with 4 tackle points.
Tournament Predictions:
U Mumba: Except Siddharth, none of the raiders could manage to score many points. The likes of Rohit Baliyan, Darshan Kadian and Abhishek Singh need to improve their game and the defense has to show cohesiveness and patience if U Mumba wants to be considered a serious contender for the title this season.
Puneri Paltan: While the Paltans showed tremendous courage and ability to come back to take away a point from this encounter, lack of a good support raider to Nitin Tomar and Sandeep Narwal's impatience could hamper their chances.