Bengaluru Bulls, U Mumba reach playoffs
Tribune News Service
Panchkula, October 2
Defending champions Bengaluru Bulls and U Mumba sealed their places in the playoffs with easy wins at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex here today.
High-Flyer Pawan Sehrawat was once again the star for Bulls as they beat hosts Haryana Steelers 56-39. Sehrawat scored a record-shattering 39 points, three more than what the entire Steelers managed. He bettered Pardeep Narwal’s 34 raid points scored in a match.
U Mumba sealed their place in the playoffs with a 30-26 win over Patna Pirates.
Skipper Sultan Fazel Atrachali remained rock solid in defence yet again and
neutralised Patna’s Pardeep Narwal with a strong performance.
U Mumba started the first half brightly with the defence taking an aggressive stance from the first minute. Fazel Atrachali set the tone early with double thigh hold tackle on Narwal in the very first minute of the match.
Abhishek Singh, ably supported by Athul MS, provided the firepower for Mumba in the raids as Mumbai cruised to a lead. They clinched their first all-out of the match in the 9th minute to open up an 8-point lead.
Fazel reached the milestone of 300 overall points in the process. But Patna clawed their way back in the closing stages of the half thanks largely to improved performances by Pardeep Narwal and Jang Kun Lee.
Narwal produced a two-point raid with under three minutes left for the half time to reduce Mumba’s lead to 5 points. The first-half ended 17-13 with Mumbai on top.
U Mumba started the second-half with a Super Tackle on Narwal but Patna regained composure to stay in the match despite Pardeep being off the court for a long duration.
Mohammad EsmaeilMaghsoudlou impressed with his all-round efforts while Jang Kun Lee’s improved raiding also helped Patna stay in touch. Fazel meanwhile was giving everyone a masterclass on captaincy, marshalling and motivating his troops to stick to the game-plan.
Patna got lucky with six minutes remaining when Jang Kun Lee ventured out-of-bound and took three U Mumba defenders with him.
With the point margin reduced to just a point and momentum heavily on Patna’s side, the three-time champions sniffed an all-out but Rohit Baliyan’s kick helped U Mumba revive another player to stay in the lead.
The Mumbai defence held firm in the final minutes to clinch a seat in the playoffs.
