The Calicut Heroes will hope to maintain their winning start to the season when they face off against U Mumba Volley in match number four of the RuPay Pro Volleyball League 2019 at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi, Kerala.
The Heroes, led by Jerome Vinith were on top of their game in the opening encounter as they smothered a hapless Chennai Spartans side 4-1 but will have to be wary against the U Mumba Volley, who lost their first game to the Kochi Blue Spikers but would have taken in confidence from their last set win.
Match Overview
The Heroes got off to a perfect start to their campaign when they won the first two sets over the Spartans, 15-8, 15-8 before a minor stumble saw them lose the third set. However, they recovered quickly to seal the next two sets and win 4-1 in the end.
Ajith Lal C, who top-scored with 14 points will yet again have a big role to play while the experience of Paul Lotman and Jerome Vinith, both of whom scored 10 points each could also have a massive say in the outcome of the game.
For the U Mumba Volley, it was a forgettable outing against Kochi as they lost the match with the first four sets going Kochi's way until a sudden resurgence saw Deepesh Sinha's side turn a new leaf and decimate Kochi 15-5 in the final set.
Teenage sensation, Prince was one of the bright sparks in the game with eight points, along with Nicholas Del Bianco and Shubham Chaudhary, who also picked up eight points against their names.
While U Mumba will certainly take in the positives from the final set against Kochi, the Heroes looked a solid outfit in their opening encounter and could be pipped to come out on top yet again.
Predicted Starting Six
Calicut Heroes: Jerome Vinith (C), Paul Lotman, Karthik A, Rateesh C.K, Iluoni Ngampourou, Ajith Lal.
U Mumba Volley: Deepesh Kumar Sinha (C), Nicholas Del Bianco, Tomislav Koskovic, Prince, Shubham Chaudhury, Akshay Kapta,
Telecast details, when and where to watch
Date: 5th February 2019, Tuesday.
Start time: 7 PM IST
Live on: Sony Six, Sony Ten 3
Live streaming: Sony LIV