U Mumba have failed to reach the semi-finals of the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League despite claiming a 38-34 win over Dabang Delhi KC here at Thyagaraj Sports Complex last evening.
U Mumba lost a semi-final place to Puneri Paltan, who stormed into the last four following their 36-33 win over Bengaluru Bulls.
U Mumba looked down and out in the first half but came back to register a win in their last game of the season. Dabang Delhi KC ended their league campaign with a second successive defeat in front of their home crowd.
Rishank Devadiga scored a two-point raid in the second minute as U Mumba levelled the game at 2-2.Kashiling Adake scored his first point in the third minute as Dabang Delhi KC led 3-2. Anup Kumar scored two points as U Mumba went into the lead in the fourth minute. Both teams traded points and exchanged leads as Dabang Delhi KC led 5-4 in the eighth minute. Delhi extended their lead to four points as Kashiling Adake scored a raid point to give his team 8-4 lead in the 10th minute. Delhi inflicted an all out in 11th minute and led 12-6 and U Mumba's hoped for qualifying all but evaporated.
U Mumba came back in the next few minutes as they trailed 10-14 after 15 minutes. Dabang Delhi KC, however, increased that gap to six as they led 17-11 after 18 minutes. Prashant Kumar Rai scored with a super raid in the 20th minute and then Dabang Delhi KC inflicted an all out to leads 24-13 at the end of the first half. Kashiling Adake scored seven points for Delhi in the first half.
Both teams scored tackle and raid points in the first few minutes of second half as Dabang Delhi KC led 26-17. Rishank Devadiga got four points, including an all out, as U Mumba trailed 24-27 after 25 minutes. He then got another raid point in 28th minute as U Mumba trailed 26-28. With 10 minutes left on the clock, Dabang Delhi KC led 29-27 and U Mumba needed a miracle to make it to the semi finals.
U Mumba took lead for the first time in a long time as they scored a tackle and raid point in 33rd minute. U Mumba led 34-30 in 34th minute as Dabang Delhi missed crucial tackles and raids. With less than three minutes to go, U Mumba led 37-32 but it wasn't going to be enough as they failed to make it to the semi finals. It will be a bitter pill to swallow for Mumbai as they lost out on score difference to Puneri Paltan.
