U Mumba look to use home advantage to trump Gujarat Fortunegiants’ perfect record

A U Mumba team at the top of their game will face Gujarat Fortunegiants, who come into the match on the back of 5 successive wins on Saturday. The U Mumba coach had earlier mentioned his intention to turn their home stadium into a fortress for their team. But to do that they will have to manage their first-ever win against a team that has outscored them by 51 points in their 3 encounters so far. They will also become the first team to score wins in their first two games of their home leg if they defeat Gujarat Fortunegiants.

Match 57 (Zone A): U Mumba vs Gujarat Fortunegiants

Head-to-head: U Mumba 0 – 3 Gujarat Fortunegiants

U Mumba come into the game on the back four successive victories, out of which only the one against Patna Pirates was a closely fought one. Their previous victory against Jaipur Pink Panthers was by a 24-point-margin and included 2 Super 10s and a High 5 from players in their roster.

Gujarat Fortunegiants have been consistent in their 5 back-to-back victories before this game but none of them have been as impressive as U Mumba’s victory in their last game. Their biggest margin of victory in this phase has been by 11 points in their games against Tamil Thalaivas and Jaipur Pink Panthers. They come into this match on the back of a victory over Dabang Delhi K.C. which saw a new star emerge in their raiding unit- Dong Geon Lee.

The big battle

Sachin vs Fazel Atrachali

Though Gujarat Fortunegiants have found a new hero in almost every match, Sachin has been a consistent point-scorer for them and has been their leading raider with 54 raid points from 7 games. He has had a particularly good time against U Mumba, averaging 10 raid points per game against them at a raid strike rate of 68.18; his best against any opposition in VIVO Pro Kabaddi.

Fazel Atrachali has been a key defender for U Mumba and averages over 4 tackle points per game in this season. However, the one match in which he attempted 3 unsuccessful tackles and had a tackle strike rate of just 57.14 as opposed to his usual 96.87 was the match his team lost. He will know a thing or two about Sachin’s game from playing with the raider in the Gujarat Fortunegiants camp last season and that experience could be vital in getting his team their second home win.

Key Khiladi

Abhishek Singh

Abhishek Singh has been U Mumba’s leading raider in their previous two games and has successfully managed to take over the mantle of lead raider from Siddharth Desai in the games he had to miss. Though Desai might come back in this game to combat the rock-solid Gujarat Fortunegiants defence, the success that Singh enjoyed against Puneri Paltan in ensuring his team’s first win against the side this season and his Super 10 in their game against Jaipur Pink Panthers could see him make the difference for the home team in this game.

Sunil Kumar

The Gujarat Fortunegiants captain’s form has been vital for the team’s success so far. His tackle strike rate has been 63.73 in the team’s victories while it falls to a lowly 35.48 in their losses. This shows how important it is for the team that the skipper has a good game since he leads the team’s defence from the front.

Factor This

U Mumba have never managed to inflict an All-Out on Gujarat Fortunegiants in VIVO Pro Kabaddi so far.