Outplay Bengal Warriorz, to play Patna Pirates tonight 

U Mumba after having endured a tipsy topsy final leg of the league stage made it to the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 11 Playoffs as the fifth best team with a comprehensive win over Bengal Warriorz, in the Badminton Hall, at the Balewadi Sports Complex, Pune.

The former PKL champions U Mumba won by a scoreline of 36-27, to bring down the curtains on what was a thoroughly entertaining league phase in one of the most entertaining and tightly contested seasons in the history of the PKL.

They join Haryana Steelers and UP Yoddhas, both of whom have never won the title, three-time champions Patna Pirates, Season 8 winners Dabang Delhi K.C., Season 1 & 9 title holders Jaipur Pink Panthers.

For U Mumba, Amirmohammad Zafardanesh top scored with seven raid points, while captain Sunil Kumar registered a High-5 and raider Ajit Chauhan bagged 6 points. For the Season 7 winners Bengal Warriorz, Pranay Rane who was at his electric best in their last match of PKL Season 11 against U Mumba scored 12 points and was named the ‘Raider of the Match’.

Despite an indifferent season it was the Bengal Warriorz who were out of the blocks quicker than the U Mumba in the early exchanges, and raced into a slender 2-point lead with Pranay leading the attack. But experienced campaigners Manjeet and Sunil responded well, as the U Mumba edged ahead soon after following a slow start by Ajit.

U Mumba soon changed gears with Ajit, Parvesh Bhainswal and Sunil  raising their game. It was Ajit’s  flurry of raids that propelled the U Mumba into a 4-point lead, with four minutes to go in the first half. The U Mumba ace defender and the most successful captain in the history of PKL Sunil then landed an ALL OUT, that ensured the Season 2 champions a healthy eight point lead (18-10) at the break.

U Mumba, who last made the Playoffs in Season 7, picked up the pace from the get-go in the second half, through their 20 year-old star all-rounder Amirmohammad who started things off with a three-point lead. Seven minutes into the second half, the Bengal Warriorz were faced the ignominy of another ALL OUT, which gave the U Mumba a 14-point lead. Meanwhile, Nitesh Kumar had picked up another High-5 for the Bengal Warriorz, and along with Pranay Rane soldiered their team’s challenge. U Mumba captain Sunil too registered his second High-5 in the crunch match by the half-hour mark.

Shortly after, Pranay got to his Super 10 and that was followed by an ALL OUT on the U Mumba. The Bengal Warriorz were threatening to make a comeback, and with just under seven minutes to go, faced a 7-point deficit  as Pranay and Nitesh gave their opponents a few nervy moments in the final minutes.

U Mumba overcame the final onslaught with élan and walked away with a morale boosting nine points win, their 12th in 22 league outings to edge past maiden edition champions Jaipur Pink Panthers by one point to occupy the fifth place on the points table.

Earlier the Gholamreza Mazandarani coached U Mumba team kicked-off their final leg campaign with a dominating 43-29 win over reigning champions Puneri Paltan in one of the much awaited game appropriately dubbed as ‘Maha Maharashtra Derby' at the latter’s home base on the opening night of the final leg of PKL held on Tuesday, 3rd December. For the winners Ajit Chouhan scored  12 points along with Manjeet, who added five more to the cause. Defenders Sunil Kumar and Sombir registered High 5s for U Mumba as well. For Puneri Paltan, Pankaj Mohite had the best outing with nine points to his name.

Their next outing against Jaipur Pink Panthers was a very tightly fought affair and the two former champions ended the game at par with the scores of 22-22 as defenders ruled the roost.

U Mumba narrow 33-24 loss to Gujarat Giants in what was the 100th league match of PKL Season 11 epitomised the whole season as Rohit’s High 5, with his tackles in the final two minutes proved to be the difference between losing and winning. For U Mumba, Ajit Chouhan's 14 points however went in vain.

Like true champions U Mumba came back hard to rout Tamil Thalaivas with a score line of 47-31 and once again regained their season best of second place and solidified the hunt for a Playoffs spot. The 15-point win later proved to be their largest in terms of points difference this season as raiders Ajit Super 10 and Manjeet’s eight points coupled with all-round show by Amirmohammad whose nine point game.

After a high their narrow 27-30 loss to UP Yoddhas which further cemented the later’s place in the Play-offs.

U Mumba regained their winning way as they swatted away the challenge from the three times former champions Patna Pirates with a 43-37 scoreline. In form Ajit led the way in attack (15 points) and Sunil Kumar (five points) pulled the strings from the defence to be nominated as the Best Raider and Defender respectively for the winners.

Their lopsided loss by 17 points (30-47) in their penultimate league game to eventual table toppers Haryana Steelers once again pushed them at the brink of elimination from the Play-off stage with Shivam Patare (14 raid points) being the stand out performer for the winners.

The Season 2 champions U Mumba, however, sealed qualification for the playoffs with the last game of the league stage and will play Patna Pirates next. U Mumba with 13 wins against their rivals including their previous contest are ahead in the head-to-head record. Whereas the Patna Pirates have won 8 times and 1 game ended in a tie.

Schedule of PKL Season 11 Eliminators on Thursday, 26 December

Match 1:  UP Yoddhas Vs Jaipur Pink Panthers – 8 pm    

Match 2:  U Mumba Vs Patna Pirates – 9 pm

Photo Cover: All-round performance by U Mumba saw them get the better of Bengal Warriorz en-route the Play-offs (Photo courtesy PKL)

Photo Above: PKL Season 11 Playoffs kick-offs tonight with top six coaches including U Mumba’s Gholamreza Mazandarani (2^nd from Right) posing with the elusive Trophy