U Mumba could not maintain their strong first half performance and a five-point 21-16 half time lead before succumbing to their 5th consecutive loss against the Gujarat Fortunegiants. U Mumba lost 34-39 in the 6th Vivo Pro Kabaddi League in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
After Mahendra Rajput and Siddharth Desai exchanged early raid points, it was neck and neck for the next few minutes before Siddharth scored a toofani raid with 3 raid points and an all out to jump to an 11-7 lead with 8 minutes to go.
With the defence functioning well through captain Fazel Atrachali, Surinder and Rohit Rana, the lead was intact, before Rohit Baliyan pitched in with his 2-pointer raid. Siddharth jumped in to increase the lead to 20-10. His 9 raid points were the highlight of U Mumba’s first half performance.
Two unnecessary super tackles conceded by Siddharth and Rohit helped Gujarat pull up to 16-21 when the teams went into the half time break.
The second half saw all-rounder Vinod enhancing U Mumba’s lead with a successful raid and then a tackle, for the scores to read 26-19 with 12 minutes to go. However, Gujarat hit back through Sachin and timely tackles to force an all out on U Mumba and reduce the deficit to 26-28 with 9 minutes to go.
Two tackles by Rohit Rana on resumption set the pace and maintained a 30-27 lead for U Mumba. However, Fazel going out of bound saw Gujarat clawing back to 29-30 with 6 minutes on the clock. The absence of Fazel in the defence proved crucial in the final moments of the match.
A successful raid by Sachin saw Gujarat tie the scores at 31 each. Both teams were tied for scores before an all-out on U Mumba saw them slump to a 32-37 deficit.
A final raid by Prapanjan saw Gujarat open up a 39-34 lead and seal the match.