With more than points – pride and bragging rights -- at stake, PuneriPaltandelivered a stellar performance to beat U Mumba41-19 in the first Maharashtraderby of the fourth season of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League. Ajay Thakur was the star for Pune as he delivered crucial blows to U Mumba with three super raids in the first half. U Mumbalooked completely out of sorts.
It’s early days but PuneriPaltansit atop of the league table with two wins out of two games. It was a historic win for PuneriPaltan as they recorded their first ever win over their bitter rivals U Mumba in the Pro Kabaddi League. To add insult to injury, it was also U Mumba’s heaviest defeat in the Pro Kabaddi League.
PuneriPaltan looked in ominous form from the start and came out of the blocks quickly in the first half as they inflicted four super raids with Ajay Thakur leading the charge. U Mumbawerestar-crossed in the first half and it took them 15 minutes to score their first tackle point. Thakur scored his first super raid in the 5th minute and followed up with his second four minutes later to assert PuneriPaltan’s dominance. ManjeetChhillar also scored with a super raid and also commanded his defence superbly at the back. In the dying seconds of the first half, Thakur got his Super 10 as he scored with another raid to give PuneriPaltan a commanding 26-10 lead.
U Mumbaare known for pulling off miraculous comebacks but tonight wasn’t their night, as PuneriPaltan didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal. Anup Kumar tried his best to revive his team’s hopes and scored eight points but his efforts went in vain. In the fourth minute of the second half, U Mumba inflicted their first super tackle of the game led by Rakesh Kumar’s charge. Anup Kumar then scored with a super raid in the 9th minute of second half to reduce the deficit to 14 points.
PuneriPaltan, led by ManjeetChhillar, were relentless in attack and defence. With less than five minutes to go, PuneriPaltan inflicted another all out on Mumba to stretch their lead to 20 points.They inflicted six all outs, four super raids in what was a terrific all-round performance from the Paltan. Thakur ended the night with 14 points to win the raider of the match award. It was a statement of intent from PuneriPaltan as they showed determination to deliver a knockout blow to their rivals.
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