U Mumba produced an all-round performance to beat Gujarat Fortunegiants 31-25 and jump to 4th position in the table Rankings
Abhishek Singh secured a Super 10 (11 raid points) for the season two champions U Mumba, who were also miserly in their defence, with Surinder Singh and Harendra Kumar picking up vital points.
The victory meant the Mumbai side jumped to the fourth place in the points table to consolidate their chances of making to the play-off stages. The match, as predicted by many, was a closely fought affair with two of the best defences in the league going head to head. What made it even more interesting was the lack of quality raiders in both the teams and this showed as both defences kept dominating the early exchanges.
PKL 2019 Ranking Table
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Tied | NRR | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dabang Delhi | 16 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 69 |
| Bengal Warriors | 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 68 |
| Haryana Steelers | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 54 |
| U Mumba | 17 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 53 |
| UP Yoddha | 17 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 53 |
| Bengaluru Bulls | 17 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
| Jaipur Pink Panthers | 18 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 47 |
| Puneri Paltan | 18 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 42 |
| Gujarat Fortune Giants | 18 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 39 |
| Patna Pirates | 17 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 38 |
| Telugu Titans | 16 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 33 |
| Tamil Thalaivas | 18 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 30 |
But Abhishek Singh’s raiding backed up some incredible defence by Sandeep Narwal and Surinder Singh opened up a lead for U Mumba as they inflicted an All-Out on Gujarat to move to a five points lead with 8 minutes still left for half time. The problem with defence-heavy teams is how they are just one multi-point raid away from capitulating. And Rohit Gulia found chinks in the Mumbai armour after the All-Out and his 8-point half helped the Gujarat team claw their way back with an All-Out with under two minutes to play.
| Team | Match1 | Match2 |
|---|---|---|
| Telugu Titans | 31 – 25 | 41 – 27 |
| Tamil Thalaivas | 29 – 24 | – |
| Bengal Warriors | 30 – 32 | 26 – 29 |
| Puneri Paltan | 33 – 23 | 33 – 33 |
| Patna Pirates | 34 – 30 | – |
| Bengaluru Bulls | 26 – 30 | – |
| UP Yoddha | 23 – 27 | 39 – 36 |
| Haryana Steelers | 27 – 30 | – |
| Gujarat Fortunegiants | 32 – 20 | 31 – 25 |
| Dabang Delhi | 24 – 40 | – |
| Jaipur Pink Panthers | 23 – 42 | 47 – 21 |
The first half ended with scores 16-16.The second half continued to be the same with both defences trading blows. Unfortunately for Gujarat, Sunil Kumar picked up an injury which disrupted the team’s structure. With Arjun Deshwal out injured for U Mumba, the raiding responsibilities for the Mumbai side were solely with Abhishek Singh. The raider produced a two-point raid in the 13th minute after which the Mumbai defence successfully tackled Gujarat’s Sachin to give the Mumbai side a 3-point lead after a long time.
The raider picked his game up and helped U Mumba secure an All-Out with less than three minutes left in the match to move to a 6-point lead. The defence held firm in the final minutes to clinch an important victory for the Mumbai side.
This article was originally published on myKhel.com