U Mumba defeated Telugu Titans in the 71st match of the Pro Kabaddi League at the Sheraton Grand Convention Centre in Bengaluru on Sunday. U Mumba climbed back into the top half of the table with this victory over the bottom-placed Telugu Titans.
U Mumba started off on a bright note with Abhishek Singh opening the account. The defenders and V Ajith Kumar ensured that U Mumba inflicted the first all-out. Mumbai was leading 10-2 in this encounter.
Fazel Atrachali had stormed back into form and the introduction of Rahul Sethpal in the starting 7 had worked in favor of the season 2 champions. In the first 12 minutes of the match, Rajnish and Ankit Beniwal had fired a blank for the Telugu Titans.
Ankit Beniwal executed a dash to perfection as Telugu Titans reduced the deficit from 14-3 to 14-7. However, U Mumba scored 4 points through a couple of consecutive super tackles however the controversial lobby rule was into the limelight again. The Telugu Titans inflicted an all-out on the Fazel-led franchise and the score was 21-15 in the 18th minute of the match. The half-time whistle was blown with the Titans recovering back as trailed by just 6 points at 23-17.
Post-half-time both the teams were even poised as they U Mumba maintained the lead of 7 points at 31-24. For U Mumba, the positive aspect was Fazel Atrachali’s high 5 and that he will remain a threat for the opponents.
Fazel Atrachali completed his first high 5 of the season
U Mumba failed to slow down the pace of the match and Abhishek and Ajith Kumar continued to be aggressive which wasn’t the need of the hour. Post the time-out in the 35th minute, the Mumbai-based franchise ensured that they put in longer raids. Adarsh T and Surinder Singh were the stars of the Telugu Titans as they were leading the points tally in the defensive department.
U Mumba put in empty raids in the dying minutes of the match and waited for the do-or-die raid. Abhishek Singh completed a multi-point raid in the 39th minute in the do-or-die raid as Telugu Titans were unimpressive with their tactics and slipped to their 5th loss in 6 matches in this season.
Next, Telugu Titans will lock horns with the Patna Pirates on Tuesday while U Mumba will take on the Tamil Thalaivas in their next match on Wednesday.