Surender Gill’s gritty effort guides U.P. Yoddha to win over U Mumba

A low-scoring back-and-forth affair finished in a crucial 35-28 win for U.P. Yoddha. Surender Gill led U.P. with eight raid points, while the defence picked up 13 tackle points. With this win, U.P. inched a step closer to securing a place in the playoffs and eliminated U Mumba from the race for a place in the top six. 

Pardeep gave U.P. the perfect start with his ninth Super Raid of the season, but U Mumba fought back to stay within touching distance on the scoreboard. Fazel Atrachali’s sensational Double Thigh Hold and a two-point raid from Ajith saw U Mumba cut the deficit to a solitary point. 

U.P. then embarked on a 5-2 run to reduce U Mumba to just two defenders on the mat, but the duo proved to be too much to handle, as they picked up a Super Tackle to cut their team’s deficit to four. But that proved to be only momentary respite as U.P. scored two unanswered points to reduce U Mumba to a solitary man. Harendra Singh picked up the bonus before being pinned down by Nitesh Kumar, as U.P. inflicted the game’s first All Out to take an eight-point lead.

U Mumba finished the half on a 2-0 run to go into the break trailing 18-12.

U Mumba started the second half in grand fashion, as they embarked on 4-1 run to reduce U.P. to just two men on the mat. An error from Gurdeep left U.P. with only Shrikant Jadhav on the mat, and U Mumba’s defence allowed the raider nothing more than a bonus before pinning him down to inflict an All Out and level the scores.

A Super Raid from Gill helped U.P. take a three-point lead, but a two-point raid from Ajith and outstanding work from U Mumba’s defence levelled the scores. A well-timed tackle from Nitesh gave U.P. the lead, before Jadhav picked up a touch point to push his team’s lead to two.

A sensational team tackle on Ajith followed by Sumit’s stellar Ankle Hold on Prathap S left U Mumba with just two men on the mat. In the game’s final raid, Gill tagged both U Mumba defenders before getting his hand past the midline to inflict an All Out and help U.P. win the game by seven. 

Top Performers

U.P. Yoddha

Best Raider – Surender Gill (8 Raid Points) 

Best Defender – Shubham Kumar (3 Tackle Points)

U Mumba 

Best Raider – V Ajith Kumar (5 Raid Points) 

Best Defender – Rinku (5 Tackle Points)