22 August,2015 08:59 AM IST | | Amit Kamath
At a press conference on Friday, U Mumba skipper Anup Kumar had casually asked if the glittering Pro Kabaddi League trophy was heavy to lift.
Anup Kumar
At a press conference on Friday, U Mumba skipper Anup Kumar had casually asked if the glittering Pro Kabaddi League trophy was heavy to lift.
On Friday, his side moved one step closer to finding out just that with a resounding 35-18 win over Patna Pirates at the Sardar Valabhbhai Patel Stadium at NSCI, Worli.
U Mumba's Anup Kumar evades a tackle from Patna Pirates during the Pro Kabaddi League semi-finals in Worli yesterday. Pic/Atul Kamble
In Sunday's final, they will take on Bengaluru Bulls who beat Telugu Titans 39-38 in the first semi-final.
U Mumba's left corner Surender Nada was the star of the show, claiming a whopping 10 points with his trademark ankle-holds, which included a 'Super Tackle'.
Mumbai's raider Shabeer Bapu won five points while skipper Anup added four points to the hosts' tally.
The Pirates desperately missed the services of star raiders Rakesh Kumar and Ravi Dalal, who are both out injured. Stand-in skipper Sandeep Narwal could not do much in the game, his nine raids yielding just two points.
Mumbai, who looked dominating throughout, ended the first half with a 22-6 lead.
Patna started the second half brightly with raider Deepak Narwal bringing home three points with a 'Super Raid'. However, the Mumbai outfit soon showed their class to enter their second successive final.
Mumbai's rivals entered the final with an exhilarating 39-38 win over Telugu Titans. The Bangalore outfit initially seemed to be racing away to the final at the 30-minute mark, holding a hefty 16-point lead with the score at 31-15. However, in the last 10 minutes the Titans faught hard and almost pulled off a win but fell short.
"We got over-confident. But they were also younger and fitter," admitted Bulls' Manjeet Chillar.
