See you all tomorrow at 7pm for one match as it's a Thursday. Till then, this is
Shivansh Gupta bidding good night.
CIAO!
This night belongs to U Mumba's Abhishek Singh and Surinder Singh and Tamil Thalaivas' V. Ajith Kumar. We have had two incredible games and I hope you all enjoyed as much as I did.
However, Tamil Thalaivas still continues to languish at the bottom of the table with a 11-match winless streak. On the other hand, Puneri Paltan stays in the eight position. Anup Kumar, Pune's coach, will have strong words for his men in the dressing room.
V. AJITH KUMAR'S 18-POINT GAME DOES NOT GO IN VAIN! THIS IS INCREDIBLE! What a day of Kabaddi we have all witnessed!
FULL-TIME: Nitin Tomar's brain-fade costs Pune the game and both teams walks away with three points each.
36-36: ALL-OUT! NITIN TOMAR WAITS FOR 25 SECONDS AND LOOKS LIKE HE WILL RUN THE CLOCK DOWN. THEN HE TRIES TO MAKE THE RAID LEGAL AND IS BROUGHT DOWN BY RAHUL CHAUDHARI. ASTONISHING! ABSOLUTELY MIND-BOGGLING STUFF AND WE HAVE A DRAW!
33-36: Ajith Kumar reduces Pune to one man. 36 seconds remaining. Nitin Tomar to raid.
32-36: PUNE DOWN TO TWO-MEN! one-man army Ajith Kumar gets Balasaheb Jadhav.
30-36: Not Girish's night! Ajith Kumar bags his 16th point with a running hand touch of Ernak in the left corner, who is slow to retreat.
29-36: 15 raid points and that's a career-best figure for V. Ajith Kumar. Surjeet Singh falls prey to his raiding prowess.
28-36: Rahul Chaudhari perishes. Girish Ernak comes in from the left cover and thumps his down while Chaudhari finds himself too deep in the right corner.
28-35: Do-or-die raid and Pankaj Mohite is cornered. Abhishek and Ran Singh combine to stop Mohite.
27-35: Bappu's poor form continue. A terrible tale for Thalaivas so far this season. Surjeet Singh with a brilliant ankle hold.
27-34: V. AJITH KUMAR IS FLOORED and Surjeet Singh scores his second tackle point of the night. He goes in for a brutally strong ankle hold on the raider, who walks off limping. Hope he is okay.
27-33: ALL SEVEN MEN ON THE MAT FOR CHENNAI, THANKS TO AJITH KUMAR. He sends Deepak Yadav back for the third itme tonight.
26-33: SUPER-10 FOR MANJEET AND RICHLY DESERVED! The youngster uses his speed and reach to great effect and gets a touch point off Abhishek's thigh in the left corner.
26-32: First point for Chaudhari after almost 20 minutes. He sends Nitin Tomar back in the left cover.
25-32: 13th point of the night for Ajith. He gets Girsh Enrak with a touch point in Thalaivas' do-or-die raid.
24-32: Do-or-die raid for Pune. Pankaj Mohite is in and he sends Ponparthiban on the turn. The defender came in with a dash and he manages to push the raider down, but Mohite uses his reach to get a touch past the mid-line.
24-31: LOOKS LIKE AJITH IS PLAYING IN SOME OTHER MATCH! While Rahul Chaudhari and other raiders are spending most of their time on the bench, V. Ajith is going about his business. Now, he gets a running hand touch off Deepak Yadav.
23-31: Ponparthiban Subramanian with a great block on Manjeet, who is one point away from his Super-10.
22-29: NOT THIS TIME FOR AJITH KUMAR. Amit Kumar in the right corner contains Kumar AND PUNE INFLICTS ANOTHER ALL-OUT ON TAMIL THALAIVAS.
22-26: Again, Manjeet comes in and now gets Bappu.
22-25: IT'S AJITH KUMAR VS PUNERI PALTAN! ONCE AGAIN, DELAYS THE ALL-OUT AND HE GETS TO SUPER-10. Gets the bonus and sends Deepak Yadav back. Bonus plus one for the fourth time in a row for Ajith.
20-25: Now, Manjeet gets one more point as he sends Mohit Chhillar back.
20-24: AJITH KUMAR, YOU BEAUTY! Once again, he delays the all-out! Bonus and touch point off Nitin.
18-24: Manjeet up against two men again and once again, he reduces Chennai to one man. Chaudhari with a failed ankle hold attempt.
18-23: CHENNAI SURVIVES AGAIN! V. AJITH KUMAR WITH HIS TYPICAL RAID ATTEMPT. USES HIS SPEED TO DART LEFT AND RIGHT QUICKLY, THEN TARGETS ONE MAN, THIS TIME SURJEET SINGH, gets a touch point and then somersaults back to safety. WOW.
17-23: DOWN TO ONE AGAIN! Manjeet concedes a point to Manjeet. Chhillar with a failed advanced tackle.
16-22: Once again, Chennai survives and it's that man, V. Ajith Kumar again. Bonus and touch point off Girish.
14-22: Now, Obiero is off to the bench. Manjeet goes back to safety after Obiero fails with a diving ankle hold on the raider.
14-21: Victor Obiero is subbed in and he revies one player. He dives forward to get a touch point off Girish Ernak and then rolls back to safety.
13-21: THALAIVAS DOWN TO ONE MAN. Manjeet gets Abhishek.
13-20: Nitin Tomar with a brilliant defensive point. He floors Bappu after Amit Kumar brought the raider down with a strong ankle hold.
13-19: Mohit Chhillar concedes a self-out! All the good work done by Bappu is nullified.
13-18: Bappu resumes the proceedings and he gets a touch point off Amit Kumar.
AND WE ARE BACK WITH THE SECOND HALF
That's been the story of the first half. Thalaivas started strongly but once Pune woke up, it ran riot. Super-raid from Mohite and better success rate in the do-or-die raids means the home team enjoys a good six-point lead at the break.
HALF-TIME! 9 RAID POINTS FOR PUNE, 9 UNSUCCESSFUL TACKLE FOR TAMIL THALAIVAS AND RAHUL CHAUDHARI HAS ONLY SCORED 2 POINTS SO FAR. THAT, BY THE WAY, INCLUDES ONE BONUS.
12-18: The last raid of the first half is put in by Shabeer Bappu and he goes back without troubling the scorers.
12-18: Girish Ernak is loving it tonight. Brilliant dash by the experienced defender on Chennai's experienced raider, Rahul Chaudhari
12-17: Do-or-die raid for Pune and Pankaj Mohite escapes the clutches off Manjeet. Chhillar puts in a half-hearted ankle hold, but Mohite uses his swift movement and backtracks to safety.
12-16: Do-or-die raid for Thalaivas. Ajith Kumar is in and he is out the next instant. Surjeet scores the first point of his night with a great block. The veteran using all his experience.
12-15: Do-or-die raid for Pune. Manjeet comes in to raid and what an excellent tackle by Shabeer Bappu. The veteran chips in with his second tackle point of the night. Manjeet went left and was thwarted with a dash-like tackle by Bappu.
11-15: Do-or-die raid for Tamil. The defender Ran Singh goes in to raid and gets a touch point off Girish Ernak, who puts in a weak ankle hold attempt.
10-15: SUPER-TACKLE FOR SHABEER BAPPU! Manjeet is floored by a Bappu chest hold.
8-15: Chennai down to three men. Mohit Chhillar tries to come from the back and try and catch Pankaj Mohite blindsided. But Mohit turns quickly and escapes with frog jump.
8-14: Manjeet and Girish Ernak pull off a great chain tackle to thwart Ajith Kumar. The raider tries a dubki but cannot overpower the chain.
8-12: Now, the defence of the home team is coming to life. Rahul Chaudhari is tossed up in the air and then brought down by Amit Kumar. Brilliant tackle.
Pune is playing with purpose. The last 5 minutes belong to the home side. All 10 points for the side have come in this phase.
7-10: ALL-OUT BY PUNE ON THE CHENNAI-BASED TEAM! Vineet Sharma is the last man on the mat. He is running out of time and he steps out of bounds under pressure.
6-6: Kenyan Victor Obiero comes in and gets a bonus point.
5-6: SUPER-RAID! PANKAJ MOHITE, THAT'S AN ABSOLUTE RIDICULOUSLY GOOD RAID AND LOOK THE CROWD GO BERSERK! WITH THE BLINK OF AN EYE, PUNE IS IN THE LEAD!ABHISHEK ON THE TURN AND THE ON THE WAY BACK, GETS TWO MORE POINTS
5-3: Rahul Chaudhari off to the bench.
4-2: Nitin Tomar with a double ankle hold on Ajith Kumar and guess who prevails? Brilliant stuff by Kumar, who gets his second point off the night. He is floored, but drags himself back to safety.
4-1: V. Ajith Kumar uses his acrobatic skills and gets another touch point.
3-1: Do-or-die raid for Pune. Early pressure on Pune. The raider, Amit Kumar slips but recovers well and then gets Mohit Chhillar. Mohit tries a block, but the raider pushes off Mohit's chest and launches himself past the mid-line. First point for Pune today.
3-0: V. Ajith Kumar gets a running hand touch on Pune's left cover defender in Pankaj Mohite.
2-0: RAHUL CHAUDHARI GETS PUNE'S CAPTAIN SURJEET AND GOOD START FOR RAHUL AND CO. Surjeet with an eager frontal block on the veteran raider near the mid-line.
1-0: Manjeet of Pune comes in for the first raid of the match and he is tackled first up by the right cover defender. M. Abhishek with a great block.
TOSS - Tamil Thalaivas wins the toss and Puneri Paltan will raid first
How have both the team fared against each other in the past?
What are some of the milestones you should look forward to in this match?
FULL-TIME! U MUMBA WINS AND SNAPS UP YODDHA'S FIVE-MATCH WINNING STREAK! SWEET REVENGE FOR MUMBA AS IT HAD LOST THE FIRST MATCH IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE GROUP STAGE TO UP.
36-39: FAZEL ATRACHALI with an empty raid and time up.
36-39: IS THIS THE GAME? HAS SANDEEP NARWAL SEALED THE GAME WITH 17 SECONDS TO GO! He was in the right corner and he choses the most important time to score his first point of the night. A brilliant ankle hold on Jadhav.
36-38: Abhishek Singh gets Sumit walking off to the bench.
36-37: TWO MORE POINT FOR UP AND IT'S A ONE POINT GAME NOW! WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE? FIRST, ROHIT BALIYAN SUCCUMBS TO PRESSURE AND CONCEDES A POINT WITH A SELF-OUT! THEN, Harendra Kumar is sent to the bench with a failed dash on Rishank Devadiga.
34-37: SUPER-RAID AND WHAT A TIME FOR UP TO SCORE THREE CRUCIAL POINTS. Devadiga comes in to raid and he gets two seasoned campaigners in the form of Fazel and Surinder Singh with a touch on the jump.
31-37: SUPER-10 FOR ABHISHEK SINGH! HE EXPECTED THE COVER DEFENDERS TO COME HARD AT HIM AND HE WAS READY! Ashu Singh and Amit fail to pin Abhishek Singh down on time.
Ladies and gentlemen, trust me when I say this, I am having such a hard time keeping up with play. But hey, I am not complaining. Both teams have are going at each other will all guns blazing and this raid fest holds a lot of promise in its final four minutes.
31-35: IT IS MUSCLE FAZEL . He uses all his might to dash out Shrikant Jadhav off the mat. In case you didn't know, Fazel was a wrestler first and he clearly hasn't forgotten his moves. What a brilliant wrestling-like tackle.
30-34: Shrikanth Jadhav gets a touch point off Harendra Kumar before Abhishek Singh gets Amit.
28-33: Now, Deshwal joins the party. Sumit, Ashu Singh have been given the marching order. Both men pounced at Deshwal, who was able muscle past both the defenders and scramble back to safety.
28-31: WHAT A COMEBACK BY U MUMBA! 2ND ALL-OUT ON UP YODDHA AND THIS IS SIMPLY REMARKABLE! Coming to the raid, Devadiga does get a bonus point, but cannot evade Surinder's ankle hold.
27-28: SUPER-RAID AND U MUMBA IS NOW IN THE LEAD! ABHISHEK SINGH GOES IN AND COMES BACK WITH A BRILLIANT THREE-POINT RAID! Players out are Nitesh Kumar, Amit, Ashu Singh
27-25: Surinder Singh has come alive in the left corner. Once again, a brilliant ankle hold on Shrikant Jadhav and HE GETS TO HIS HIGH-5. His second of the season.
27-24: SUPER-RAID FROM ARJUN DESHWAL? NO, it's not. THE UMPIRES COME TOGETHER AND INVOLVE THEMSELVES IN A VERY ANIMATED DECISION and award one point each.
26-23: Do-or-die for UP. Surender Gill in sent in AND HE FAULTERS. SURINDER SINGH HOLDS HIM BACK WITH A BRILLIANT ANKLE HOLD! SUPER-TACKLE FOR U MUMBA AND THE BATTLE OF GILL VS SINGH IS GETTING EVEN BETTER!
26-21: Do-or-die raid for U Mumba. Rohit Baliyan, who is in for only his second raid of the night does brilliantly and delivers under immense pressure. He dives back to safety after getting a touch off the defender, who dashes him out. One point each and MUMBA CHALLENGES THE CALL, claiming that the raider is safe. Replay shows that Baliyan steps into the lobby without getting a touch. Thus, THE REVIEW IS DEEMED UNSUCCESSFUL, MUMBA ALSO LOSES ITS ONLY REVIEW AND THE UMPIRE'S DECISION STANDS. ONE POINT EACH.
25-20: FROM 2 TO 6 PLAYERS! What a passage of play UP has had. To top it off, Fazel is off to the bench for the first time tonight. Jadhav gets a running hand touch in the left corner.
24-20: Do-or-die raid for U Mumba. Athul MS is floored by Ashu Singh. Ashu has done well tonight. Another brilliant grapple.
23-20: Do-or-die raid for UP. Devadiga crouches, struggles but manages to crawl past the mid-line. WHY IS A RAIDER ATTEMPTING A TACKLE, ASKS HIS TEAMMMATES? The U Mumba raider puts in a perilous ankle hold very close to the mid-line.
22-20: Deshwal is in to raid. Super-tackle opportunity for UP and UP GOES AHEAD WITH A SUPER-TACKLE! SACHIN KUMAR WITH A LETHAL ANKLE GRAPPLE.
20-20: Rishank gets a bonus in the left corner.
19-20: TWO MEN LEFT ON THE MAT FOR UP.
19-20: Arjun Deshwal comes in to raid. He has scored three points so far and make that five. Brilliantly done by Arjun who manages to jump over Nitesh's dash and then Surender Gill tries to hold him back. But, Deshwal turns around to get back to safety.
19-18: GAP REDUCED TO ONE AGAIN! WAIT, HOLD ON! UP Yoddha challenges that defender is not-out and that the raider is. The replay shows that Sumit's right foot is out of bounds when Abhishek Singh gets a touch off the defender's head. THIS MEANS THAT REVIEW IS UNSUCCESSFUL AND UP LOSES ITS REVIEW!
19-17: NOBODY GETS HIMSELF OUT OF A FAZEL ANKLE HOLD! Shrikant Jadhav first goes right and realizes there is no taking there. Then goes left and falls right into the trap. Fazel with an ankle hold and then Sandeep assists with a block.
19-16: Abhishek Singh gets a toe touch on the cover defender. Ashu Singh was caught off-guard there and becomes an easy scalp.
19-15: UP starts on a very positive note. Sumit gets one back on Athul MS with an excellent ankle grapple.
18-15: Shrikant Jadhav begins the second half with a bonus point and touch point off Sandeep Narwal. The Mumba defender is once again guilty of putting in an advanced tackle and failing.
AND WE ARE BACK WITH THE SECOND HALF
HALF-TIME! What a seesaw battle we have witnessed so far. UP Yoddha looked like running with the match after effecting an all-out on U Mumba but what followed was simply remarkable. U Mumba scored 13 points after the all-out and it's just a one-point game now. Stay tuned for the final 20.
16-15: Surender Gill is sent to the bench in the last raid of the first half as Athul MS gets a brilliant running hand touch.
16-14: Shrikant Jadhav is gifted a point by an eager Harendra Kumar.
15-13: ALL-OUT! U MUMBA STRIKES BACK WITH AN ALL-OUT AND IT'S A TWO-POINT GAME. Ankush is subbed in and is the last man on the man. Goes to raid and gets a bonus. Then, Fazel Atrachali puts in a clinical ankle hold.
14-10: It's all happening here. Abhishek is up against two men and Sachin Kumar steps out of bounds.
14-9: Do-or-die raid. Pressure on Surender Gill of UP AND SINGH GETS HIS REVENGE. Gill ventures in too deep in the right and pays the price as Surinder Singh come sin with a block.
14-8: Abhishek Singh bags another point. He uses his speed to great effect. First goes right and invites defenders in the left to come forward. The raider then turns around quickly and then gets a hand touch on Nitesh Kumar. His fourth point so far.
14-7: GILL GETS SINGH AND SINGH IS OFF THE BENCH! Once again, Surdender Gill of UP catches Surinder Singh of U Mumba napping.
13-7: Sumit has to go the bench again. Deshwal scores his second point of the night with a running hand touch on the defender.
13-6: SUPER-TACKLE AND AND UP IS BACK! Ashu Singh redeems himself with a brilliant backhold on an in-from Abhishek Singh.
11-6: Four consecutive points for U Mumba. Is this the sign of a revival? First, Abhishek Singh gets a running hand touch and sends Nitesh Kumar back. In the next raid, Shrikant Jadhav is tackled by Harendra Kumar. Then, Abhishek Singh scores his second consecutive point by getting a running hand touch off Amit's chest, who is slow on the retreat. Then, Devadiga is sent to the bench with a U Mumba tackle.
11-2: ALL-OUT! UP YODDHA INFLICTS EARLY ALL-OUT ON U MUMBA. Coming to the raid, Gill was up against two U Mumba men. He first went deep to get a touch point off Harendra Kumar. Fazel then charges in from the left for a block, but Gill was up to the task. He turns, manages to squeeze past the two men and dive back to safety.
7-2: Do-or-die raid for U Mumba. Arjun Deshwal comes in. He targets the right corner and gets the bonus. But he is then thrown off by Ashu Singh with a thumping block.
6-1: Do-or-die raid for UP. Surender Gill goes in and he delivers. He targets Surinder Singh and invites a tackle. The defender goes in for a dash, but cannot throw Gill off on time as the raider gets his hand past the mid-line just on time.
5-1: Do-or-die raid for U Mumba. Athul MS comes in and he is tackled with a brutal block by Sumit. It was a perilous block, but he did well in the end.
4-1: Surender Gill comes in for his first raid of the night. Goes back empty handed.
4-1: Shrikant Jadhav gets another big fish. He gets Abhishek Singh at left cover. Brilliant running hand touch off U Mumba raider's chest.
3-1: Sandeep Narwal with an error now. He is too eager to put in the block near the mid-line and Devadiga obliges. Nitesh Kumar is revived.
2-1: Abhishek Singh gets a touch point of Nitesh Kumar from right corner, who pays the price for coming to far close to the raider. He couldn't back off on time.
2-0: Early error from Harendra Kumar in the left cover. He puts in a half-hearted block, but ends up conceding an easy touch point to Shrikant Jadhav.
1-0: Arjun Deshwal of U Mumba starts with an empty raid.
1-0: Rishank Devadiga comes in to raid first. He has scored 20 raid points in the last five games. He starts with a bonus point in the left corner.
TOSS- U MUMBA wins the toss and UP YODDHA will raid first.
What to look forward to in this match?
U.P. Yoddha takes on U Mumba at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge, Balewadi in Pune on Wednesday with an aim to maintain its recent winning run. The team made its way in the top six on Monday with a win over Jaipur Pink Panthers and another win at the same venue will see it move on to the fourth spot in the Season 7 standings. U Mumba, meanwhile, will be looking to reclaim their fifth position from U.P. Yoddha and will be expected to fight hard to make that happen.
BATTLE OF THE CORNERS – ‘SULTAN’ FAZEL & SANDEEP NARWAL VS. NITESH KUMAR & SUMIT
Two of the most lethal corner combinations this season will face off when Fazel Atrachali leads his U Mumba side against Nitesh Kumar’s UP Yoddha.
The two teams have two of the best corner combinations this season with Sandeep Narwal playing in the right corner for U Mumba and newcomer Sumit impressing in the left corner for UP Yoddha.
There are many similarities between these two combinations. Each team has one corner with 50 tackle points already. Both of these combinations score the majority of tackle points for their team.
Fazel has already touched the 50 tackle point mark for the season and has a very good average of 3.3 tackle points per game. Sandeep Narwal has scored 38 tackle points at a good average of 2.5 tackle points per game as well.
Both U Mumba corners have been lethal with a tackle SR above 60. Together U Mumba’s corner combination has scored 88 tackle points which is 59% of the team’s tackle points.
For UP Yoddha, Nitesh Kumar has caught fire after a slow first half of the season. He has 42 tackle points at the moment while Sumit has 50 already in his debut season. Nitesh has been more accurate with his tackles as shown from his tackle SR of 62 while Sumit has a tackle SR of 53.
Together they have scored 92 tackle points which is also 59% of their team’s tackle points. three of these four corner defenders are among the top 5 in tackle SR this season among defenders with at least 20 tackle points.
How have both the team fared against each other in the past?
What are some of the milestones you should look forward to in this match?
WATCH: Meanwhile , you can check out Sportstar's latest addition to the #KingsofKabaddi series. Anna, and Haryana Steelers' skipper, Dharmaraj Cheralathan gets candid in this chat.
You can watch the live streaming of all the Pro Kabaddi matches on Hotstar.
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