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U Mumba, a dominant side from the first three seasons of Pro Kabaddi, have had a slow start thus far. But as that old adage goes, never write off the heart of a champion. The title winners from Season 2 showed all of that heart to register a superb come-from-behind win over the UP Yoddha in the very first match of the Lucknow leg. The big names all shone brightly in this encounter as U Mumba picked up a 37-34 victory.
The Jaipur Pink Panthers grounded Rohit Kumar and the Bengaluru Bulls in the second encounter to win 30-28 in a wildly fluctuating encounter that went down to the wire. For the Panthers, it was just their second win of the season while it was a hattrick of losses for the Bulls.
#1 Mumba and Shabeer bounce back
The first encounter of the night featured plenty of U Mumba faces. Shabeer Bapu, one of the stars of Season 2, was back with the side after playing for the Jaipur Pink Panthers. Two of their key men though had moved on and they were across the court on the night as Rishank Devadiga and Jeeva Kumar welcomed Anup Kumar and his U Mumba side to Lucknow.
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Mumba looked slow early on and unsure of themselves as the Yoddha battered them, quickly establishing a 12-4 lead with just nine minutes of the match completed. It looked like it was going to be another long night for the veteran team. The same could be said for Shabeer, who had failed to fire previously in the campaign.
Playing with a red left eye after suffering a concussion in his last match, Shabeer though led the charge for Mumba as they came roaring back into the encounter. Shabeer was superb as he kept racking up the points on raid after raid and with his captain Anup also doing well, Mumba's raiding department suddenly looked lethal, providing problems for the Yoddha's defence. The lead had stretched to 15-7 with just five minutes remaining in the first half, but Mumba finished the half strongly behind Shabeer and Anup to reduce the deficit to just three points at 15-12.
Mumba completed the comeback in the second half as they went on to effect two All Outs on the Yoddha and their defence with their tails up also came into their own to inflict damage on the home side.
Shabeer produced one of the most magical raids of Pro Kabaddi in the final of season 2 and he produced another brilliant piece of work in this one. With two minutes gone by in the second half and his side trailing by one, Shabeer pulled off an absolute miracle.
With the UP defence clamping down on him, Shabeer got absolutely clobbered, yet managed to get his left arm out at full stretch, touched the midline, but couldn't cross it, gave it another go with his last bit of energy and got probably a fingernail over the line. Talk about a question of millimetres! That gave Mumba a lead by one and gave them solid momentum that fueled the comeback.
Shabeer finished with 12 raid points overall and even had a tackle point along the way on a sensational night for him and U Mumba.
#2 UP Yoddha fail to capitalize on Rishank's explosive performance
Facing his former team and captain in U Mumba, Rishank Devadiga reminded everybody why he's one of the best raiders in the business and probably wanted to make a statement to his old team for letting him go.
Rishank put in an imperious performance and was unstoppable on the night as the Mumba defence simply had no answer for him. He started like a house on fire and remained brilliant throughout the match.
In just the second raid of the match for the Yoddhas, his first, he picked up a Super Raid getting rid of three Mumba men. Most raiders, even the very good ones, usually manage just one Super Raid during a match; Rishank though had two in this one. With six minutes gone in the second, the Yoddha's lead had been wiped out and the two sides were level at 20-20.
Rishank delivered a lethal blow to Mumba though with a 3-point raid that took out two of Mumba's key defenders to boost his side's chances of victory.
Rishank was tackled just thrice in the match and finished with a massive 14 raid points, a Super 10 for the night. Despite his brilliance though, his side failed to capitalize on his exploits which ended up costing them the match. The defence was a huge let down in the second half and probably they got too confident after the early lead.
Rishank was the top scorer on the night, but still ended up on the losing side.
#3 The pendulum swings wildly between the Bulls and Panthers
Playing second on the opening night in Lucknow were the Bengaluru Bulls and the Jaipur Pink Panthers. The two teams played out a wildly entertaining affair that saw the momentum shift one way and then the other.
The Pink Panthers started out strong with the birthday boy and captain Manjeet Chhillar leading from the front. They established a 7-3 lead within nine minutes of the game and it took the Bulls by surprise especially as they saw their captain Rohit Kumar get constantly sent to the bench after being tackled repeatedly.
The Bulls though after the early All Out engineered a strong comeback with Rohit starting to fire finally. They engineered an All Out of their own and managed to tie the game up and even take a 12-8 lead at one point. There was one more All Out to come though and it went to the Pink Panthers with Rohit Kumar getting captured in the buzzer raid of the first half.
That second All Out looked decisive as the Pink Panthers got stronger in the second half and really stretched out their lead with the Bulls desperately looking for answers. With 10 minutes left, the Jaipur side enjoyed a comfortable 11-point advantage as they led 27-16.
Jasvir Singh though, Jaipur's lead raider, got tackled on the very next raid and it set in motion a last-ditch effort from the Bulls to salvage the match. Even as the Bulls chipped away at the lead though, Jaipur still led by seven with just three minutes remaining. Ajay Kumar then crucially got rid of Manjeet with the most delicate of touches and with their captain off, the Panthers' defence lacked leadership and as the Bulls inflicted a second All Out on them, fourth overall of the match, it was suddenly a one-point game at 28-29 with time remaining for just one more raid. Somehow the Bulls had come back from the brink.
It was Jaipur's turn to raid though and the Bulls rightfully advanced up high so as to not give Jasvir easy passage across the baulk line. The wily raider though managed a touch point on the Bulls' right corner defender Ravinder Pahal to seal the deal for his side.
Manic!
#4 A good birthday for Manjeet Chhillar
It was a happy birthday for Jaipur captain Manjeet Chhillar. In a resolute and steely performance, he ensured that his side emerged triumphant and picked up just their second win of Season 5.
Manjeet seems to like the Bengaluru Bulls as an opposition. In a match last season, he picked up 11 tackle points against them. Today, he had eight tackle points to set the record for the most tackle points in a match for this season.
And it almost ended as soon as it began!
Giving chase after Rohit Kumar had completed his raid, Manjeet attempted to catch the Bulls' defence off guard and gain a quick point early in the first half. However, he tweaked his right knee in the process and limped back over the mid-line not looking all that good. It looked like he had done more damage than good for his side.
However, he managed to shake it off and on the very next raid put in a strong ankle hold to show that he was going to continue in the match. That was an early marker for what was to come as Manjeet dished out tackles left, right and centre through the match and marshaled the defence superbly to inflict a third-straight defeat on the Bulls.
Manjeet also dominated his personal head-to-head with star raider and opposite captain Rohit Kumar, finishing with a 100% success rate against him, with Rohit being captured with all five of Manjeet's tackles against him.
No gifts for the Bulls on this day, but plenty for his side, the Pink Panthers. A good way to sign off on your birthday.
#5 The return of the raiders
After having had a rough time of it, day one of the Lucknow leg saw the raiders return to form.
We've seen defences dominating matches more in the past week or so, specially with the likes of Haryana and Gujarat. The matches have been very tactical and even the best raiders in the competition had had a quiet time of it on the mat.
Today though, we had three Super 10s - Shabeer Bapu, Rishank Devadiga and Jasvir Singh all delivered for their side with Shabeer and Jasvir's efforts rewarded with a win while Rishank had to end up on the losing side.
Shabeer finished with 12 points including a miraculous raid in the second half of his encounter. Rishank was top-notch and finished with 14 points as the top scorer in the match between the Yoddha and U Mumba. Jasvir turned back the clock as well with a vintage performance that saw him net 10 raid points, including a high-pressure buzzer raid that gave his side a narrow victory.
It wasn't just the Super 10 trio; Anup Kumar supported Shabeer ably and had eight raid points of his own for U Mumba. His counterpart, Nitin Tomar, was equally good with seven raid points to back up Rishank's effort.
The matches reflected their performances as we saw some superb raids being pulled off on the night.
