All-round team effort powered U Mumba to a hard fought 32-26 win over Dabang Delhi K.C. in the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 2024-25 at the GMCB Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday night. Amirmohammad Zafardanesh, Manjeet and Rohit Raghav starred in different aspects of the fast paced game for the winners. In the process U Mumba avenged a sweet revenge after having lost their inaugural match of the 11^th edition of PKL to the same rivals 36-28 last month.

The Season 2 champions in the process registered their third win of the season, and are currently placed fifth in the 12 team tourney (based on Score Difference -1) despite sharing the same number of 19 points with two times title winners, Jaipur Pink Panthers (SD + 24) and UP Yoddhas (SD + 19).

It was a fast start from Manjeet and Ashu Malik, with both raiders getting four of the first six points for U Mumba and Dabang Delhi K.C. respectively. Amirmohammad Zafardanesh soon joined the party for U Mumba, giving them a two point lead with a couple of sharp raids halfway through the first half. 

The defenders soon took charge though, exchanging blows to make sure they didn't give away any easy points. Yogesh Dahiya stood tall for Dabang Delhi K.C. with four points in the first half, while Sunil Kumar and Sombir did the defensive work for U Mumba. The latter gave U Mumba the lead in the last play of the first half, with a strong tackle to ensure a slender one point lead (14-13) at the half way stage close out a closely contested half at
U Mumba came flying off the blocks in the second half as Manjeet scored a two-point raid. Amirmohammad followed that up by inflicting the first ALL OUT of the contest that ensured U-Mumba a six point lead. 

The Season 8 title winners managed a response of their own with their captain leading from the front. Ashu Malik scored a couple of points to reduce the deficit for Dabang Delhi as they looked to fight back. 

Rohit Raghav emerged as the hero for U Mumba towards the end with crucial exchanges in the second half . The Season 2 champions managed to slow things down in the final stages of the game, protecting a six-point lead with under four minutes to go.

Not to be cowed down Dabang Delhi gave a fight back though. Yogesh completed his Super 5, while Ashu Malik completed his Super 10 to cut the gap down to mere three points with under two minutes to go. With the tension palpable, Manjeet came in clutch for U Mumba in the end, tackling Ashu Malik and following it up with a raid, while Amirmohammad closed the door on any possibility of a comeback for the Delhi Dabang’s.

Top Performers  

U Mumba: Best Raider - Manjeet (7 raid points); Best Defender - Sunil Kumar (4 tackle points)

Dabang Delhi K.C.: Best Raider - Ashu Malik (11 raid points); Best Defender - Yogesh Dahiya (6 tackle points)