Jaipur: The brilliance of Fazel Atrachali and a calm performance from captain Anup Kumar saw U Mumba move up to 3rd place on the league table in Season 3 of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi with a 30-17 win over Bengal Warriors in Jaipur.
The first half saw one of the quickest all-outs ever secured in Star Sports Pro Kabaddi with the Warriors getting all out by the 8th minute. The defending champions had a lead of 8 points at the time which swelled as Anup and star raider Rishank Devadiga continued to bring back points through quick touches. The latter was responsible for the first all out with Bajirao Hodage from the Bengal team the last man standing.
The domination continued until the half time whistle with a superb twist and turn from Rishank saw him escape from the Bengal defence and score 2 points. With the score at halftime being 17-6 to the defending champions, it would have taken something special from Bengal Warriors to come back into the match.
The second half saw Rishank being tackled in the opening minutes itself and a slight shift in momentum towards the Bengal Warriors. Despite U Mumba being reduced to 3 men at one point, Fazel Atrachali shone tonight with his brilliant waist and ankle holds, ensuring that his team would always be at full strength. Soon a second all out was secured this time by the captain himself with the score moving to 24-7. Jan Kun Lee in particular wasn't extremely successful against the new partnership of Fazel and Mohit Chhillar. Defender Vishal Mane also put in a superb tackle to restore Rishank to the mat which then saw the raider continue his good form. The highlight of the match was a fierce body block from Fazel to stop Mahendra Rajput from crossing the mid line. Rishank being shown the yellow card in the 39th minute didn't take the shine off the win which saw the defending champions close out the game 30-17.
The post match conference held glowing praises for Fazel from his captain Anup Kumar. "Fazel is a brilliant player and has taken the opportunities given to him in this season. While we weren't able to play him earlier because we had an equally good defender in his position (Surender Nada), he is now taking advantage of his regular starts."
U Mumba now travel to New Delhi and take on Bengaluru Bulls at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium on the 25th of February.
