Pirates hijack U Mumba

Mumba's Rakesh Kumar makes a frantic effort to escape the Patna Pirates'antis. Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar

Patna Pirates put it across defending champion, U Mumba, 40-26 on the concluding day of the Bengaluru leg of the ProKabaddi League here on Saturday.

Pirates are now undefeated after three matches, while U Mumba slipped to a second loss in four fixtures.

Rajesh Mondal gave Pirates an early lead when his raid landed a windfall of four touches. His side moved 5-3 ahead at this point, and apart from a few minor hiccups, it was smooth sailing for Pirates from here.

Mondal finished with 8 points. Pardeep Narwal (8 points) also tasted success, doing duty when Mondal needed a rest.

For U Mumba, skipper Anup Kumar waged a lone battle.

U Mumba coach, Bhaskaran Edacherry, stated that the poor start cost his side dear. “Mondal taking four points really set us back. It was the turning point of the match. Our defenders lost a bit of confidence after that, and the team lost momentum,” he said.

Anup, who had a few disagreements with the referees, stated that he lost his cool as a result of wrong ecisions.

The result: Patna Pirates 40 (Rajesh Mondal 8, Pardeep Narwal 8) bt U Mumba 26 (Anup Kumar 9).