Bengaluru Bulls get back to winning ways with a closely fought win over U Mumba

Bengaluru Bulls got their campaign back on track with a win over U Mumba by scoreline of 30-26, in a topsy-turvy affair at the NSCI Indoor Stadium, Mumbai.
Pawan Sehrawat came into his own in the second half to script the win for Bengaluru Bulls, in a match that was pretty-much fought between the raiders.

Bengaluru Bulls got the first points of the night as Abhishek Singh walked into the lobby in just the second raid of the day. U Mumba’s defence started strongly as they tackled down Pawan Sehrawat to go 2-0 up, before Fazel Atrachali and Surender Singh combined to tackle down Sumit Singh in the do-or-die raid for Bengaluru Bulls to hand a 3-1 lead to U Mumba.

Arjun Deshwal then committed a silly error in the do-or-die raid, stepping outside the lobby after getting a touch. Pawan was in and he raided out Fazel Atrachali to restore parity for the away side. Pawan Sehrawat added more to his tally as the score quickly to 3-6 in the favour of the Bulls.

Just as it seemed Bulls were getting a grip on the game, U Mumba struck back through Abhishek Singh who got a bonus and a touch point in a do-or-die raid. U Mumba then had another moment of glory as they super-tackled Pawan Sehrawat to bring to score to 7-7, but a game marred with silly errors, saw the biggest one when U Mumba made the wrong revival, gifting a point, and the slender lead, to the Bulls.

It was Bengaluru Bulls’ time now to get a super-tackle as Rohit Baliyan was on the mat. Arjun Deshwal, however, made up for it, securing two touch points in his raid to take his side into half-time with just a two-point deficit, as the score read 11-13.

After a quite first minute of the second half, U Mumba got points in a splurge as Abhishek Singh made use of his height to get a touch point, before U Mumba super-tackled Pawan Sehrawat, followed by a surrender raid, which sent Bengaluru Bulls packing. U Mumba were now ahead with the score at 16-13.

It was Abhishek Singh yet again with a raid point, and Surender got his first tackle of the night, moments later. Arjun Deshwal proved to be brilliant in support as he got another point on the night to give U Mumba a four points lead, 19-15, the scoreboard read.

The next minute belonged to Punjab stalwarts on either side as Surender Singh tackled Pawan Sehrawat, while Mahender Singh brought Arjun Deshwal down. Abhishek then had to go for a do-or-die raid, and was brilliantly caught by Ashish Sangwan to cut the deficit to 2, with the score now reading 21-19. U Mumba then had things go there way as Mohit Sehrawat stepped into the lobby, while Arjun Deshwal added to his tally to restore U Mumba’s four-point lead at 23-19.

It was Pawan Sehrawat time, as the top scoring raider of last season got into his own, earning Bengaluru Bulls six points without return to now get the score to 24-25 and handing Bulls a one-point lead.

A game that was full of unforced errors, saw more of it as U Mumba seemed to crumble under pressure, gifting three more points to the Bulls. With less than two minutes to go, the scoreboard now tilted in the Bulls’ favour with it reading 25-28.

Pawan Sehrawat then added more misery for U Mumba as he completed a 30-26 win for the Bengaluru Bulls to get them back to winning ways, while U Mumba slumped to their second loss in four games.

Starting Sevens
Bengaluru Bulls: Pawan Kumar Sehrawat, Rohit Kumar, Amit Sheoran, Mahender Singh, Ashish Kumar Sangwan, Sumit Singh, Saurabh Nandal

U Mumba: Fazel Atrachali, Sandeep Narwal, Surender Singh, Rohit Baliyan, Harendra Kumar, Abhishek Singh, Arjun Deshwal

Top Performers

Bengaluru Bulls

Top Raider: Pawan Kumar Sehrawat (11 points)

Top Defender: Mahender Singh (3 points)

U Mumba

Top Raider: Arjun Deshwal (6 points)

Top Defender: Fazel Atrachali (3 points)