Top spot on the line for U Mumba in their final league-stage match against U.P. Yoddha

U Mumba play their final league fixture before the Playoffs as they take on U.P. Yoddha in an Inter-Zone Wildcard Match at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday. U Mumba can regain the lead at the top of Zone A with a win which will make Gujarat Fortunegiants’ last game a must-win for them if they hope to top their zone. U.P. Yoddha, meanwhile, will be hoping for a win to stay in contention for a Playoffs spot from Zone B.

The two sides previously met in Mumbai this season, with U Mumba running out victors by 17 points. Surender Singh and Fazel Atrachali managed seven and six tackle points respectively for the home side, while Narender returned a High 5 for U.P. Yoddha.

Match 124 (Inter-Zone Wildcard Match): U Mumba vs U.P. Yoddha

Head-to-head: U Mumba 2-0 U.P. Yoddha

Form Guide:

Stats from the last five matches –

Average Points Scored – 37.4

Average Points Conceded – 26.8

Best Raider – Siddharth Desai

Best Defender – Fazel Atrachali

Stats from the last five matches –

Average Points Scored – 31.2

Average Points Conceded – 28.4

Best Raider – Shrikant Jadhav

Best Defender – Nitesh Kumar

The big battle

Siddharth Desai vs Nitesh Kumar

Siddharth Desai has led U Mumba’s offence magnificently in his debut campaign, scoring 211 of their 424 raid points so far, to sit joint-second amongst the league’s best raiders. Desai scores his points at an average of 11.11 raid points per game, the second-best in the league as well. Desai has scored 12 Super 10s this season, of which 6 have resulted in wins for U Mumba. Desai will lead U Mumba’s hopes of victory against U.P. Yoddha as they aim to have winning momentum on their side before the Playoffs.

Nitesh Kumar has had a splendid campaign as U.P. Yoddha’s Right Corner in Season 6. Kumar currently ranks third in the league in terms of tackle points with 74 from 20 matches. Scoring at an average of 3.7 tackle points per match, Kumar sits second in that category. He has also inflicted 6 Super Tackles so far, ranking fourth in that category. Kumar has been the league’s best Right Corner and his side will hope he can continue delivering strong performances as the business end of the competition approaches.  

Key Khiladi -

Surender Singh – U Mumba

Surender Singh has come of age in Season 6, managing to score more than 50 tackle points in a season for the first time. Singh sits joint-eighth amongst the league’s best defenders. Singh has scored High 5s in both games he has played against U.P. Yoddha, accumulating 12 tackle points over the two contests. Up against a trio of strong U.P. Yoddha raiders, Singh will look to use the Dash to good effect to take them out.

Shrikant Jadhav – U.P. Yoddha

Shrikant Jadhav has been U.P. Yoddha’s leading raider in recent games, managing 118 raid points in 20 games. Jadhav has been brilliant in Do-or-Die raids this season, having managed to score 32 points from those, giving U.P. Yoddha a good raiding option in pressure situations.