All tied up. A closely contested back-and-forth game between the Tamil Thalaivas and U Mumba finished with both teams sharing the spoils. The match was tied at 30-30 after 40 minutes in the 15th match of Pro Kabaddi Season 8. V. Ajith Kumar led the U Mumba with 16 points, while Manjeet was the star of the show for the Tamil Thalaivas, scoring 8 points.
Tamil Thalaivas were behind par in the raiding department scoring 18 to U Mumba's 20 points. When it came to tackling Tamil Thalaivas scored 8 points to U Mumba's 6 points. Raids became more fiercely contested in the 2nd half and eventually, the match ended in a tie.
Tamil Thalaivas captain PO Surjeet Singh scored 3 where as U Mumba captain Fazel Atrachali picked 2. The mainstay of the Tamil Thalaivas was PO Surjeet Singh staying on the mat for 97% of the raids.
Key Players
Best Raider : V. Ajith Kumar (16 points), UM
Best Defender : Rinku Hari (2 points), UM
Key Moments in the Match
| Raid 1 | TN 0 - 1 UM | Abhishek Singh (UM) | Abhishek Singh eliminates Athul M S with a Hand Touch. |
| Raid 10 | TN 6 - 2 UM | Manjeet (TN) | Manjeet gets the better of Rahul Sethpal. |
| Raid 12 | TN 7 - 2 UM | Manjeet (TN) | Manjeet eliminates Prince with a Hand Touch. |
| Raid 13 | TN 10 - 2 UM | Ajinkya Rohidas Kapre (UM) | That takes some guts. Solo Tackle by Surjeet to take out raider Ajinkya Kapre. |
| Raid 18 | TN 12 - 2 UM | Manjeet (TN) | Manjeet gets another raid point as he takes out Fazel Atrachali. |
| Raid 24 | TN 14 - 3 UM | Manjeet (TN) | Ashish K Sangwan has to leave as Manjeet gets a touch on him. |
| Raid 26 | TN 15 - 5 UM | Bhavani Rajput (TN) | Bhavani's story is a great one. While he hasn't gotten any points today his break into PKL is aone of perseverance and of upskilling and coming back. He was with the talaivas in season 5 and then went out into the wilderness. Played in the MP Kabaddi League and came back this season to the thalaivas a better raider. Last game he had 9 points but none today. Keep an eye on him though. |
| Raid 31 | TN 15 - 6 UM | V. Ajith Kumar (UM) | This just isn't working for Mohit. He tries to be clever but it backfires as V. Ajith Kumar gets an easy touch off him and gets the point. |
| Raid 32 | TN 15 - 7 UM | Manjeet (TN) | Manjeet is tackled successfully by U Mumba defense. |
| Raid 34 | TN 16 - 8 UM | Athul M S (TN) | Mumba corners having a rough night. Will they be thinking if they should have continued with Rinku? |
| Raid 35 | TN 16 - 14 UM | V. Ajith Kumar (UM) | The ex Thalaiva drags his new team back into the contest. Thalaivas had the option to retain Ajit before the auction and chose to let him go - he is telling them, you should have retained me. and what style to pass on the message. U Mumba looked well behind the money on this game, but this one raid could change the complexion of the game. The thalaivas attack ajith kumar, but he escapes one and struggles leaps over the defender blocking him on the mat, to just get a hand over the mid line. Big MOMENT THIS |
| Raid 36 | TN 17 - 14 UM | Manjeet (TN) | and With that it is half time. What a comeback by the u mumba team in the last few minutes. They got 9 of the last 10 points scored in this game. Will they be able to carry this momentum into the second half?
Big story of the first half has been how surjeet & the thalaivas completely neutralised abhishek singh. |
| Raid 38 | TN 19 - 14 UM | Abhishek Singh (UM) | The dominance of thalaivas over Abhishek singh continues |
| Raid 43 | TN 21 - 14 UM | Bhavani Rajput (TN) | As we were saying watch out for Bhavani rajput a story of perseverance. And what a raid. In a Do or Die raid he gets rid of both the mumba corners. Wow.. Thalaivas have wrested back the momentum they lost in the last few minutes of the first half. |
| Raid 44 | TN 21 - 15 UM | V. Ajith Kumar (UM) | V. Ajith Kumar pockets a bonus point. |
| Raid 46 | TN 21 - 16 UM | V. Ajith Kumar (UM) | This plan has worked early in the game where Sahil comes in from the corner and blocks the left raider, just as the left cover moves out of way. But this plan has been used one too many times. Ajith was well aware and was looking for it. runs into the defender but turns and gets his hand across. Clever raiding. |
| Raid 48 | TN 21 - 18 UM | V. Ajith Kumar (UM) | A bonus point won by V. Ajith Kumar taking out Sagar. |
| Raid 49 | TN 21 - 19 UM | Manjeet (TN) | what an important moment. Bringin in rinku has been big. immediately he leaves his mark and takes out a raider. Rahul was very good for the SAI team in the 46h Junior nationals, and was good for mumba in the limited chances, but one thing you should not do as a team is change a winning combination - especially in defence. |
| Raid 58 | TN 23 - 21 UM | V. Ajith Kumar (UM) | V. Ajith Kumar gets his man! He's been targeting Sagar Krishna for a while now and finally gets him out with a smart Hand Touch. |
| Raid 60 | TN 23 - 22 UM | V. Ajith Kumar (UM) | V. Ajith Kumar gets his man! He's been targeting M. Abishek for a while now and finally gets him out with a smart Hand Touch. |
| Raid 61 | TN 25 - 22 UM | Athul M S (TN) | terrible defending here. Fazel puts in a really good tackle but absolutely no support from the rest of the defense. Mumba looking very tentative today in defense. Can they hold it together for the last 6 minutes. |
| Raid 62 | TN 25 - 23 UM | V. Ajith Kumar (UM) | V. Ajith Kumar eliminates Sagar with a Hand Touch. |
| Raid 63 | TN 26 - 24 UM | Athul M S (TN) | The power of Fazel. His right corner puts in a tackle, but fazel is there in a flash to support his defense and make sure the tackle is successful. A true captain. |
| Raid 64 | TN 26 - 27 UM | V. Ajith Kumar (UM) | Surjeet errs and has to go back to the bench and it's another point for V. Ajith Kumar. |
| Raid 65 | TN 26 - 28 UM | Manjeet (TN) | And Fazel is integral to that tackle. This is been a game of two halfs. The one when tamil dominated, and fazel was struggling Then the half when Fazel gets his mojo backed, of course kickstarted by that monster raid by Ajith |
| Raid 67 | TN 28 - 29 UM | Athul M S (TN) | important review this. Referees call fazel out. U mumba takes a review, to say no bonus and fazel is safe.
But it is a bonus and fazel is safe. So what do they do with the review. Half correct, half incorrect! Seems like the wrong decision was made here. u mumba will feel hard pressed by this decision. |
| Raid 68 | TN 28 - 30 UM | V. Ajith Kumar (UM) | And immediately after that review, ajith escapes when manjeet puts in an mistake of a tackle and brings back fazel on the mat. |
| Raid 71 | TN 28 - 30 UM | Ajinkya Ashok Pawar (TN) | As it gets tight, thalaivas make a substitution, but the substitute just does an empty raid. another minute to go. |
| Raid 73 | TN 29 - 30 UM | Ajinkya Ashok Pawar (TN) | Ajinkya A Pawar locks horns with Rahul Sethpal, but manages to get across the line. |
| Raid 74 | TN 30 - 30 UM | V. Ajith Kumar (UM) | Mohit strikes, gets rid of V. Ajith Kumar. |
