U Mumba put in a brilliant performance against Puneri Paltan in the final few minutes of the Maharashtra Derby which finished in an edge-of-the-seat, thrilling 33-33 draw at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday. U Mumba's Abhishek Singh put on a terrific Raiding display, notching a Super 10 in the process and Puneri Paltan's All Rounder Manjeet registered 6 Raid points and 4 Tackle points on the night.

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U Mumbai were off to a better start in the First Half as they progressed to a 5-2 lead by the end of 6th minute, having reduced Puneri Paltan to just 3 men on the mat. A Manjeet-led Super Tackle reduced the score-line deficit to just a point at 5-4 but it was not enough as U Mumba's Raiding pressure became just too difficult to counter, and as a result of Paltan eventually fell to the first All Out of the match in the 9th minute. U Mumba put in a brilliant performance against Puneri Paltan in the final few minutes of the Maharashtra Derby which finished in an edge-of-the-seat, thrilling 33-33 draw at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday. U Mumba's Abhishek Singh put on a terrific Raiding display, notching a Super 10 in the process and Puneri Paltan's All Rounder Manjeet registered 6 Raid points and 4 Tackle points on the night.

U Mumbai were off to a better start in the First Half as they progressed to a 5-2 lead by the end of 6th minute, having reduced Puneri Paltan to just 3 men on the mat. A Manjeet-led Super Tackle reduced the score-line deficit to just a point at 5-4 but it was not enough as U Mumba's Raiding pressure became just too difficult to counter, and as a result of Paltan eventually fell to the first All Out of the match in the 9th minute.

Post the All Out, it was a game of defensive displays as both sides produced equally good defensive performances in strong attempts to outplay the other. Nevertheless, U Mumba held onto their 6-point lead going into the closing 4 minutes of the First Half. Fine performances from Puneri Paltan on account of a brilliant Pankaj Mohite-Raid followed by crucial Tackles by Balasaheb Jadhav and Hadi Tajik cut U Mumba down to 5 men on the mat, switching the flow of momentum in Paltan's favor. Although U Mumba finished the First Half in a leading position at 16-12, Puneri Paltan had the better of their opponents, in terms of performance momentum and level of confidence.

Pankaj Mohite ran riot in the Second Half as he dismissed U Mumba's Sandeep Narwal with a classic Dubki-move, following which tricked 3 more defenders in stepping into the lobby. This effective Raiding display reduced U Mumba to just 2 men on the mat. Puneri Paltan doubled on their chance set up from Mohite's smart offensive play when they inflicted an All Out on U Mumba in the 6th minute of the Second Half, leveling the score at 20-20.

U Mumba's Abhishek Singh led his side's response strongly after the All Out as he went on to register 4 back-to-back Raid points. U Mumba's captain, Fazel Atrachali doubled the damage when he took out Paltan's main man Mohite with a bullish Tackle that left Puneri Paltan on the brink of a second All Out of the match. However, Puneri Paltan edged out with a single point's lead at 26-25 following a Super Tackle from Shubham Shinde and Manjeet's Super Raid.

Abhishek Singh took matters in his own hands as he delivered a terrific individual display that kept U Mumba in the contest against Anup Kumar's resilient Puneri Paltan side

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15 minutes into the Second Half, Puneri Paltan inflicted another All-Out on U Mumba as they raced to a 32-26 lead. U Mumba was saved from further damage when Abhishek Singh rallied again with his Raiding display to cut down the score deficit to just 2 points with 2 minutes left on the clock. With well under 30 seconds left to play, Fazel Atrachali lodged in a crucial Tackle to cut the lead to just a single point following which Abhishek Singh's single point leveled the scores at 33-33 as the Maha Derby contest concluded in a thrilling 33-33 draw.

Match preview: U Mumba aiming a 2nd triumph over Puneri Paltan in Maharashtrian derby

U Mumba will be gunning to record a second win over their State Rivals, Puneri Paltan in this season's second Maharashtrian derby in the penultimate Bangalore leg tonight at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday.

Coming into this fixture, as per the head to head records, U Mumba and Puneri Paltan have faced off in 15 PKL matches with the season two champions edging their State rivals in the record at 9-5. Moreover, U Mumba's current form is superior to Puneri Paltan's form as the Mumbai team has won 3 of their last 5 games in comparison to Pune's 2 wins. At present, Fazel Atrachali's men are at the 6th position on the team standings while Puneri Paltan are placed just above Patna Pirates who are at the rock-bottom of the PKL 7 standings.

Puneri Paltan's raiding unit will be spearheaded by Pankaj Mohite and reliable All Rounder, Manjeet once again. Meanwhile, captain Surjeet Singh would be seeking to fortify Paltan's defense with support from the likes of Balasaheb Jadhav, Sagar Krishna, and Shubham Shinde, to contain and counter U Mumba's Raiding threat. Fazel Atrachali might not change his starting 7 lineups, keeping the raiding trio of Abhishek Singh who returned to form, recording a Super 10 against Jaipur Pink Panthers in the last match, along with Arjun Deshwal and Athul MS. Atrachali along with All Rounder, Sandeep Narwal will be set on either Corner while Surinder Singh and Harendra Kumar would hold the Covers.

If U Mumba wins this derby, they will move to the 5th place, overtaking the Jaipur Pink Panthers. If Pune wins, they can go as high as the 8th position, depending on the margin of victory.

Head to head: Puneri Paltan vs U Mumba 

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