Bengal look to bounce back against U Mumba after first home defeat

Tuesday saw two-high scoring games where Patna Pirates and Haryana Steelers got the better of their opponents Jaipur Pink Panthers and Bengal Warriors respectively. On Wednesday, Bengal Warriors will look to put their loss behind them as they take on Captain Cool Anup Kumar’s U Mumba and Bengaluru Bulls will look to get one up on Dabang Delhi K.C. on the penultimate matchday at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium in Kolkata. Here is a look at both the interzonal matches of the day.

MATCH 63: Dabang Delhi K.C. vs Bengaluru Bulls

Head-to-head: Dabang Delhi K.C. 4–4 Bengaluru Bulls

Bengaluru Bulls have been struggling to find form lately as their captain Rohit Kumar has been the only consistent bright spark of their campaign this season. They will take on Dabang Delhi K.C., who have been looking good lately under Iranian Meraj Sheykh.

The Bulls have had some good performances by Mahender Singh and Gurvinder Singh in recent games but they still haven’t found players to consistently support Rohit. The defence, led by Ravinder Pahal, will have to step up if they are to turn around their four-match losing streak.

On the other hand, Sheykh and fellow Iranian Abolfazl Maghsodlou have handled offence quite ably for the Delhi-based franchise in the last few matches and will look to continue their form when they meet the Bulls on Wednesday. In defence, Nilesh Shinde has been the lone star and will need support from Bajirao Hodage if star raider Rohit is to be kept down.

MATCH 64: Bengal Warriors vs U Mumba

Head-to-head: Bengal Warriors 1–8 U Mumba

Bengal Warriors had to face their first home leg loss on Tuesday against Haryana Steelers. The Surjeet Singh-led side will look to forget that result and come back strongly against a U Mumba side that is a little low on confidence after a poor home leg.  

Maninder Singh has been the in-form man for Bengal Warriors in their home leg and they will look to the raider to get them off to a quick start. In the absence of Deepak Narwal, Jang Kun Lee and Vinod Kumar have provided able support to the star raider. Captain Surjeet Singh has been absolutely unstoppable in defence and his performance will be crucial against the U Mumba raiding duo of Kashiling Adake and Anup Kumar. If Bengal do not concede an early lead they should be able to put the suspect U Mumba defence under pressure.

U Mumba, meanwhile, will be dependent on Adake to get them off to a good start from where they can take control of the match. If the raiders fail to make a mark early, the inexperienced defence might concede easy points to the opposition. Captain Cool Anup will once again be the key man for U Mumba. The longer he stays on the mat, the greater are the chances of U Mumba trumping the hosts.

Catch the action live on the Star Sports network and hotstar from 7.30 pm onwards.