U Mumba survive scare from debutants Haryana in narrow win

U Mumba proved on Sunday that they are a force to be reckoned with in this fifth edition of VIVO Pro Kabaddi as raiders Anup Kumar and Kashiling Adake brought all their experience into play to steal a 29-28 victory from debutants Haryana Steelers at Hyderabad’s Gachibowli Indoor Stadium.

As the first half got underway, raiders from both teams played carefully and did not take any unnecessary chances. Till the 15^th minute both teams were neck and neck with nothing to choose between them. The defenders from the Haryana Steelers, however, came to the party late in the first half to inflict an All-out on U Mumba, and went into the break with a 15-11 lead.

Haryana Steelers kept up the pressure in the second half and put the U Mumba defence under tremendous pressure and raced to a 19-12 lead before long. Things looked really ominous for U Mumba. Adake and ‘Captain Cool’ Kumar, though, had other plans. After failing to perform according to his standards in the last game, Adake returned a superb super raid which was the beginning of the end for Haryana Steelers. He was ably backed up by Kumar as the two raiders managed to get the momentum on their side and hand U Mumba their first victory of the season.

The Steelers, however, impressed one and all with fleet-footed raiders Vikash Khandola and Wazir Singh executing some brilliant raids and captain Surender Nada ably managing the defence with a High 5 to show for his efforts.

Haryana Steelers will now look to build on their performance going forward in their next match against another debutant Gujarat Fortunegiants on Wednesday, while U Mumba will get a much-needed breather as their next encounter will now be in the Nagpur leg where they face Dabang Delhi K.C. on Saturday.