U Mumba keep playoff hopes alive with a 30-28 win over Dabang Delhi

U Mumba staged a comeback in the first half after a slow start to beat Dabang Delhi 30-28. It was a crucial win for U Mumba as they kept their hopes for the playoffs alive. Shrikant Jadhav scored 10 points for U Mumba whereas Kashiling Adake chipped in with seven points. Dabang Delhi squandered their early nine-point lead in the first half and couldn’t keep composure in the last five minutes.

Dabang Delhi are still bottom of the table in Zone A with 29 points from 13 matches. U Mumba are third now with 44 points from 16 matches.

Dabang Delhi started brightly in the first half and at one point led by as many as nine points. But U Mumba came back strongly in the latter part of the first half to stage a recovery. Abolfazl made a two-point raid in the second minute to give Dabang Delhi 2-1 lead. Shrikant Jadhav scored a raid point in the fourth minute as U Mumba trailed 3-4. Dabang Delhi inflicted an all out in the eighth minute to lead 11-3.

U Mumba were looking rattled but scored four points in two minutes to trail 7-12 in the 13th minute. Kashiling Adake made a two-point raid in the 15th minute as U Mumba cut the deficit to 10-13. Rohit Balliyan got into the act for Dabang Delhi and scored with a two-point raid to give them 15-10 lead in the 16th minute. U Mumba inflicted an all out in the 18th minute as they trailed 14-15. Both teams went into the break level at 16-16.

The second half began with both teams refusing to give an inch. It was a low-scoring again in the second half. In the first four minutes, both teams scored three tackle and raid points each as it was 19-19 after 16 minutes. Shrikant Jadhav was the raider for U Mumba who got points with critical raids. Both teams weren’t willing to take any chances as it was 20-20 after 28 minutes.

No all out was inflicted in the second half as it was a conservative affair with teams exchanging raid and tackle points one after the other. With less than five minutes to go it was all square at 25-25. Shrikant Jadhav scored a critical raid point in the last minute and Kashiling Adake scored with a tackle point as U Mumba won 30-28 in the end.