U Mumba eye a season clean sweep against home team Jaipur Pink Panthers

Zone A action continues in Panchkula as Jaipur Pink Panthers play U Mumba for the final time this season at the Tau Devilal Sports Complex on Saturday. Despite having qualified for the Playoffs, U Mumba will want to finish top of their zone as that would give them an extra shot at the final and, a win here will put them nine points clear at the top. Jaipur Pink Panthers, on the other hand, have four games in hand over fifth-placed Haryana Steelers and will look to close the gap on the final Playoffs spot in Zone A.

The two sides have played each other twice this season with U Mumba getting maximum points out of the contests. The last encounter saw U Mumba win by 24 points as Abhishek Singh and Darshan Kadian managed Super 10s while Fazel Atrachali returned with a High 5.

Match 114 (Zone A): Jaipur Pink Panthers vs U Mumba

Head-to-head: Jaipur Pink Panthers 5-8 U Mumba. 1 tie

Form Guide:

Jaipur Pink Panthers	RESULT(W-T-L)	POINTS SCORED	POINTS CONCEDED
Vs. Puneri Paltan	WON	36	23
Vs. Tamil Thalaivas	WON	37	24
Vs. Telugu Titans	LOST	26	36
Vs. Dabang Delhi K.C.	LOST	35	48
Vs. Puneri Paltan	TIED	30	30
TOTAL	2-1-2	164	161

Stats from the last five matches –

Average Points Scored – 32.8

Average Points Conceded – 32.2

Best Raider – Deepak Niwas Hooda

Best Defender – Sandeep Dhull

U Mumba	RESULT(W-T-L)	POINTS SCORED	POINTS CONCEDED
Vs. Dabang Delhi K.C.	WON	44	19
Vs. Bengal Warriors	WON	31	20
Vs. Gujarat Fortunegiants	WON	36	26
Vs. Dabang Delhi K.C.	WON	41	34
Vs. Dabang Delhi K.C.	WON	39	23
TOTAL	5-0-0	191	122

Stats from the last five matches –

Average Points Scored – 38.2

Average Points Conceded – 24.4

Best Raider – Siddharth Desai

Best Defender – Fazel Atrachali

The big battle

Deepak Niwas Hooda vs Siddharth Desai

Deepak Niwas Hooda is the leading point scorer for Jaipur Pink Panthers this season with 141 raid points in 16 games at an average of 8.81 raid points per game. Having managed four Super 10s in his last six matches, he has led Jaipur Pink Panthers’ offence almost singlehandedly. Hooda is also the league’s leading all-rounder this season, having managed a total of 150 points.

Rookie Siddharth Desai has had an excellent debut campaign for U Mumba. Three away from 200 raid points, Desai will look to become the fastest to that mark in this game. Desai is the league’s joint-leading scorer in terms of raid points. An average of 10.94 raid points per game places him second in that category too. Desai will lead U Mumba’s hopes of a clean sweep over Jaipur Pink Panthers this season.

Key Khiladi

Ajinkya Pawar – Jaipur Pink Panthers

Ajinkya Pawar has performed the role of backup raider brilliantly for Jaipur Pink Panthers in recent games. Pawar is Jaipur Pink Panthers’ second-most successful raider this season with 41 raid points from 11 games. He has scored the most points from Do-or-Die raids for Jaipur Pink Panthers and they will look to him once more to score points in the crucial third raid. Pawar will also have to take on the key responsibility of revival if U Mumba manage to keep Deepak Niwas Hooda off the mat early.

Surender Singh – U Mumba

Surrender Singh has enjoyed a career-best campaign for U Mumba in Season 6. With 54 tackle points in 19 games, he is their second-best and the league’s eighth-best defender. He has managed 13 tackle points against Jaipur Pink Panthers overall, including four this season. Up against a Jaipur Pink Panthers offence led by Deepak Niwas Hooda, Singh will look to use the Dash to good effect to take out their raiders on the retreat.