After two defeats on the trot, U Mumba was desperate for a win in the fourth edition of the Pro Kabaddi league and Rishank Devadiga duly delivered, leading the scoring with eight points to help his team win 27-25 against Dabang Delhi at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Friday.
It was an incredible three-point raid by Devadiga in the 28th minute that saw Mumba overtake the opposition from 15-16 down to 18-16 and Delhi never recovered from that reversal. The result leaves Delhi struggling for its maiden victory and the team would be desperate to avoid an embarrassing previous season that saw it win just one of its 14 games.
Devadiga, one of the two retained players by Mumba in the auctions, proved why the prolific raider is valued so much. Delhi captain Kashiling Adake did everything he could but that wasn't enough. Unlike the previous seasons, when he had been soldiering on as the lone ranger for his team — he is the only current player to score over 100 raid points in two consecutive seasons — he had Selvamani's support in the game but a fragile defence let the team down.
The teams started slowly and were at par for a large part of the game. Selvamani and Adake effected some impressive escapes to score touch points and even got the first all-out of the match. But it all changed with Devadiga's three-pointer that was followed by a Delhi all-out.
Delhi still had a chance to tie the game when Selvamani narrowed the gap to just one point in the final minute and Delhi had to tackle Anup Kumar to split points but the experienced raider managed to crawl back to the line for a point and ensure a victory for his team.
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