As the race for the semifinal spots heats up, the first match on Day 2 of the Delhi leg of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi Season 3 saw third-placed U Mumba beat Bengaluru Bulls 39-18 in front of a vociferous crowd at the Thyagraj Stadium. U Mumba, who are the defending champions from the previous edition, come off the back of a morale-boosting 30-17 win against the Bengal Warriors. On the other hand, the Bulls shall look to bounce back after a 40-22 drubbing at the hands of the Telugu Titans in their previous encounter.
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It was all one-way traffic in the first half as U Mumba established a comfortable lead, thanks to some rock solid-defending and smart raiding. They gave away just two raid points and opened up a sizeable 16-5 lead at the break.
Early on, they made it 5-2 thanks to a couple of trademark do-or-die raids by Rishank Devadiga. Preetam Chhillar, then, scored the Bulls’ only touch point of the half as they were soon bundled out in the 9th minute as U Mumba took a 10-2 lead.
The gulf in experience between the two sides was evident as the side from Mumbai steadily racked up the points. The half also saw veteran Rakesh Kumar score from a lightning quick pursuit raid as fellow raiders Anup Kumar and Rishank Devadiga picked up three points each.
HT: U Mumba 16–5 Bengaluru Bulls
It was more of the same in the second half as it took the defending champs just three minutes to all out their opponents for the second time. Rakesh Kumar took out the two remaining defenders in a single swoop and the scoreline now stood at 22-5.
The Bulls looked to gain some momentum as they reeled off three points in a row, but it was written off immediately by a masterful super raid by Anup Kumar. The Bulls huffed and puffed and came close to an all out as well, but the U Mumba side stood strong and inflicted their third all out of the game to make it 32-11.
Bengaluru looked to finish strongly and conjured up some fine raids but it was just a dent on an impressive performance by the reigning champions. The match ended in their favour at 39-18.
FT: U Mumba 39–18 Bengaluru Bulls
It was a field day for the U Mumba raiders as both Anup Kumar and Rishank Devadiga picked up 6 points each, with Mohit Chhillar raking up 5 points in defence. A strong statement by U Mumba as they now prepare for the home leg.
You can catch the highlights of the match, presented by hotstar, below:
