U Mumba benefited from its captain Fazel Atrachali’s excellent tackles and Arjun Deshwal’s fine all-round showing to beat Telugu Titans 41-27 in a re-scheduled match of the Pro Kabaddi League at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.
Mumba’s seventh win pushed it up into the top-six on the points tally.
Titans banked on Siddharth Desai and Rakesh Gowda’s praiseworthy efforts to lead 13-9 before Mumba, which was all out in the 13th minute, made a strong comeback.
Mumba, which gave a close fight due to Rohit Baliyan’s five points in the first half, also cashed in from Deshwal’s contribution. Deshwal, who had opened Mumba’s account with a two-point raid, claimed Vishal Bhardwaj and C. Arun to help his side take a 15-13 lead.
Farhad shines
However, Farhad Milaghardan conducted a successful raid with a bonus point to level the scores just before the break.
Mumba applied pressure as Titans got all out within a minute of resumption. Fazel’s solid tackling and its raiders’ successful forays enabled Mumba to establish a seven-point lead at 25-18.
Titans rode on the Gowda’s all-round performance to narrow the margin, but Mumba was boosted by Fazel, who not only garnered five tackle points in the second half but also guided his team brilliantly to seize momentum at the right time.
Deshwal inflated his personal score to 10 while extending Mumba’s lead. Titans, which experienced two more all outs, could never really recover.
Meanwhile, the EKA Arena at Ahmedabad will host the two eliminators, semifinals and the grand finale from October 14 to 19.
The result: U Mumba 41 (Arjun Deshwal 10, Rohit Baliyan 7, Fazel Atrachali 6, Sandeep Narwal 4) bt Telugu Titans 27 (Rakesh Gowda 7, Siddharth Desai 4, Farhad Milaghardan 4, Vishal Bhardwaj 4).