U Mumba continued their dominance in the second edition of Pro Kabaddi league as they humiliated Bengal Warriors 31-17 in the competition at the Thyagraj Stadium on Sunday.
With this win, Mumbai captured the top position with 45 points from 10 games while Bengal stayed near the bottom at 7th (16 points, 11 games).
The real separator between the two sides came up to be the raids. While Mumbai picked up 16 points from raids, Warriors managed nine points.
It was an all out performance from Mumbai in all departments allowing them to extend their 15-6 lead at half time to a comfortable finish. Captain Anup Kumar was all smiles in the post match press conference. “We dominated in attack and defence so it was a perfect performance. We hope to carry this momentum and finish top after the group stages. That means we face the team finishing fourth in the group stages thus giving us an advantage to be facing a somewhat weaker team,” said the raider.
Anup and Bhupender Singh were the top performers for Mumbai picking up six points apiece. Mohit Chillar chipped in with four tackle points, which got him the defender of the match award.
For Kolkata side, substitute Kedar lal was the top performer scoring five points but he didn't get the desired support from the starting side.
Warriors showed good intent early on with captain Mahendra Ganesh Rajput claiming he touched a Mumbai shirt but even after the TV referral, that didn't go their way. Maybe that was a sign that things weren't to go their way for those 40 minutes.
Interestingly, Mumbai made no substitutions during the game. Asked later if it was a plan, Anup said: “We play and choose teams according to the opponents. We have a good rounded squad and that helps our cause. If we need to change things and players, we can.”
Delhi thump Patna
Dabang Delhi snapped their losing streak by making most of of a loud Thyagraj Stadium and the pep talk by Delhi-boy and Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri to thump Patna Pirates 45-26. Raider Kashiling Adake was the star of the night as he accumulated 13 points from his 19 attempted raids — contributing to more than half of Delhi's points in raids. Not to be outdone, Rakesh Bhardwaj chipped in with one super tackle worth six points to leave Patna red faced.